Secrets of the Heart
by Fredrikness
Summary: "Sora seemed to mesmerise Riku no matter what he did. If he was happy, he shone. If he was upset, Riku wanted to comfort him. If he was angry, Riku felt intrigued. If he was sleepy, Riku wanted to pick him up and devour him right then and there."
1. Doing things the Kairi way

I do NOT own Kingdom Hearts, or any of the characters (Minus Meiko, but no one really wants to use her anyway... feel free to, but I highly doubt that you will), because if I did, Riku and Fredrik would be together and there would be no darkness and all that yackity-yah. Oh, and please don't sue me!

Oh, yes, and this _is_ my first fanfic ever, so if it's crap, you may tell me so. I'm not one of those people who beg people for reviews, and yes, I will post this anyway, even if no one reads it. I don't mind negative comments, okay, but please, go easy on my poor, weakening heart... By the way - you can review if you want, because I've never gotten a review, and they sound pretty snazzy.

Enjoy. Hopefully.

* * *

_**Secrets of the Heart - Chapter 1: Doing things the Kairi way**_

Kairi knew that Sora liked Riku. It was obvious. Other than the eyelash batting and barely covered up giggles, Kairi had other evidence to go by.

She had been dropping off Sora's homework, as he had been sick the past week, and couldn't go to school.

"Sure, Kairi, he's just upstairs, probably playing the Wii or something." Sora's mother, Meiko, was a really nice woman, with stylish black hair and a flour covered apron that she always seemed to be wearing. "Oh, and can you ask him what pizza toppings he wants? Oh, and thick or thin crusts?"

Kairi grinned. "Meiko, he wants pineapple, olives, pepperoni, ham, bacon and anchovies. Yuck, but that's what he likes, I guess." Kairi turned to skip up the stairs. She stopped just as she reached the landing. "Oh," she called down, only her face and shoulder facing the kitchen downstairs. "And the wants a thin crust, because thick makes his stomach ache."

Kairi smiled as she entered Sora's room, knowing that below her, in the kitchen, Meiko was muttering about how well Kairi and Sora knew each other. Which she, Meiko, was doing indeed.

"Oh, why those two never got together, I just won't ever understand," the said mother mumbled to herself, as she put on an oven mitt, just about to take out some cookies.

Upstairs, Kairi felt the flat, peaceful atmosphere, and knew that Sora was asleep. "Sora?" she hummed softly, nto expecting a reply. She tied her shoulder-length red hair into a ponytail, and pushed the door open a bit further.

"Mmm… my R-Ri… ku… Mhh, yes, Riku…"

Kairi froze, shocked. But, because she'd already guessed as much, she stood up straight, and giggled quietly.

She crept into the room, surrounded by Sora's whispers and her snickers. She had a feeling that Sora could wake up at any moment.

Oh, how that would priceless. Kairi would whip out her cell and capture the pure shock and humiliation on the sleepy brunette's face as he was caught out.

But he didn't wake, so Kairi left Sora's text book on top of the Wii, and left silently – minus the stumble over the doorframe, and the gasp that came with it.

The hard thing for the red haired girl was to determine whether or not their older friend liked Sora back. So, to investigate, she did things the Kairi way.

* * *

"Riku," she said, hoping to get a splutter, or at least some soft of reaction, from the rest of her planned-out speech. Oh, the anticipation. "Do you like Sora?"

Riku didn't even look at Kairi as he headed off the art. "Yeah, of course, he's my best friend."

Riku's face, as per usual, was shut off to the outer world. The only ones that could really make him smile were his cat, Fluff-tard, or…

Sora. Kairi grinned suddenly, and if Riku noticed, he didn't say anything. Sora could make this grumpy, silver haired, aquamarine eyed, too-mature-for-bullshit, teenage boy smile.

"You know what I mean," she said happily, and it didn't really fit with what she meants. Now Riku looked at her, and his expression made her wonder if there was some other head on her shoulders that she hadn't noticed yet.

"You're crazy." It was stated, not meant to be insulting or anything, and Kairi, although she shouldn't have, took this is an affirmation.

"Oh!" cried Kairi, hugging the tall boy tightly. "That's okay, because the person likes you too!"

Riku froze. "They do?"

Kairi grinned, stepping back. She nodded joyously. "Yepsies!"

Then Riku grimaced, realised he had given himself away. "Well, they better like disappointment as well; because that's all they're gonna get."

And then he stormed off to class, just as the bell rang through Kairi's ears, unnoticed.

* * *

"We need to find a way to get them together…"

"But should we? If Riku's not up for it, then… Sora's heart is in the picture still, keep in mind."

"She's right ya know, ya."

"Shut up! Both of you! Now… you. You can help me?"

"Ah-huh."

Wide smiles.

* * *

"So, Riku, how are you?"

Riku looked up from his canvas, to see Selphie's green eyes boring into his soul. That might sound a bit dramatic, but that's seriously what ot felt like. "Ah… good? How about you, Selphie Tilmitt, are you going alright?"

Selphie sighed, rolling her eyes and smiling. "Always the gentleman, aren't you, my dear? But, yes, I am fine. Although… I do have one problem." The brunette's eyebrows furrowed and her pouted, like Sora, except her lips were tighter and not as… perfect.

Riku raised an eyebrow, as if this action may take away all thoughts of Sora's face, Sora's hands, Sora's torso, Sora's lower regi… _Stop_. "And I have to listen, don't I?"

Selphie nodded, as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. "Well, duh! You're my friend, and I looove you!" She squeezed him in a tight hug, and Riku squirmed away, hoping that she fell in a random tin of paint that was lurking somewhere… waiting… Instead she fell into a stool that was right next to Riku's. The silver haired boy sighed inwardly.

"Well, what's up then? I'm willing to listen," he grumbled, resuming the sketch he was doing on the canvas. He loved the way that he could paint a beautiful, horrible, anxious, worried, mesmerising, scene – all with just the flick of his wrist on a piece of plaster.

"Well," Selphie started sadly. Riku didn't look at her, but if he had of, he guessed her lip would have been quivering. Riku rolled his eyes. _Girls._

"You see, it's Sora."

Riku froze. Sora? Was he okay? Did something happen to him? He resumed his state, and went back to his sketch. He didn't know what he was drawing, but the conversation with Kairi had him etching for a chance to draw away his emotions. Hopefully it would turn out ambiguous. He liked it that way. "Yeah?" he asked casually, hoping she would go on.

She didn't disappoint. She sighed dramatically, before continuing sadly. "Well, you see, I really like Sora, but he doesn't like me. I always see him staring at this other person, and ya know," she sniffed. "It just… kinda, well, it breaks my heart!" The brunette put a hand on her heart and sniffed again, her eyes filled with tears threatening to spill.

"D-don't cry!" Riku said hastily, dropping the pencil on his foot. He put his arm on Selphie's and looked into her eyes. Emeralds shone, and Riku felt sorry for her. "Now," he said, hoping that this would help both her _and_ him. "Just tell him how you feel. I'm sure, no, actually I _know_, that Sora wouldn't turn you down if you told him what you've just told me. He's too nice for that."

Selphie nodded, sniffing again. "Mmh-hmm."

Riku smiled softly, relieved. "Who is the other person, though, if you don't mind me asking?"

Selphie smiled sadly, but inside she was grinning. She hadn't missed the true curiosity and anger the older boy hd been trying to hide behind subtle words. It was still there, faintly, and Selphie had caught him out. But she ignored this for the time being. "J-just l-look at your p-pic-picture, and you will figure it out."

Selphie stood and trudged slowly out of the room. The bell had gone, but some people were still inside the studio. Riku was surprise that no one had noticed Selphie's and his exchange. But right then, he didn't really care. All the cared about was wondering what he had drawn. He hadn't been paying attention to it, too focused on Selphie's little confession.

Riku gasped as he turned and saw the picture. There, on the huge canvas, was the outline of Sora dancing, with his head on someone's shoulder, as they whispered in his ear, the younger boy sighing an a frozen moment. _B-but that's… me._


	2. Ask Sora yourself

Disclaimer: Nope, I still haven't won copyright of Riku yet. They won't even let me have the whole game, either. Damn...

Look, I'm not going to lie to you. This chapter is crap. I wrote it, like 4 weeks ago (sorry for not updating! I was in Sydney!) and now reading back through it, I realised how much it sucks.

Hey can you guys who actually read this, please please please read my other stuff? I don't know if I've mentioned, but I'm trying to win a bet with this guy about me getting reviews and he - obviously - is winning. Thanks!

Oh, and PS - sorry for making Riku a bit of a *^%# in this one. I was just in a bad mood at the time, I guess.

* * *

Riku was sitting on his bed, his brows furrowed, and he was thinking. Very hard. About Sora and Selphie and Kairi, and that girl who worked at the pizza restaurant with him. Namine, he thought her name was, but he wasn't completely sure.

_His eyes are sapphires, lost, found, priceless, dazzling, wantable… out if reach._

_What did Selphie mean when she said Sora was always staring at me?_

_The ranga has something to do with this…_

_She has nice hair, I guess… It seems like she likes me. Namine, wasn't it? Dunno._

_Ah… Sora… his arm are so, so, delicate. Yes! He's delicate! That's why I won't approach him like that… Does he seriously look at me?_

He pulled out his sketch book, and opened it to a page near the middle. He wasn't the type to write someone's name, and then scribble love hearts and _- + - 4eva_ all around it. Instead, he went the classier route.

He drew pictures of him and Sora together. Like, full-on sketches of Sora's hair, outlining Sora's eyes, the dimples Sora got when the laughed…

Riku had the urge to clutch the book to his chest and sigh, like any other love-sick teenager would, but, then again, he liked the classier route, and took to being content just staring at the pages, adding in any details that he might have missed. Like, for instance, how delicate Sora's arms were.

* * *

Around an hour later, Riku found himself sprawled over the empty pages of his sketch book, half asleep. His eyelids fluttered as he thought of all the possibilities of what would happen if Riku told Sora how he felt.

_Sora would blush and giggle, his eyes flashing in anticipation…_

_He'd just cut straight to it, shoving Riku up against the locker and kissing the silver haired boy full on the mouth…_

_He would shrug and walk away, not looking back…_

Riku shuttered. _Back to Riku tangled in between Sora and the locker…_

* * *

_Um, okay then…_ Sora looked at the scene in front of him, deeply confused. His eyebrows furrowed, and he felt the back of his knees tingle faintly.

Although he couldn't hear what they were saying, hence the glass of the window he was peering into to, but it was obvious that Kairi was begging Riku to do something, Selphie was nodding enthusiastically, and Riku looked like he was about to punch both girls out.

Sora knelt down, crouching over to the edge of the door, which he leant against, trying to listen into.

"Please, Riku? For Selph!" Kairi was indeed pleading.

"No! I'm not going to-" Yes, Riku was angry.

Selphie interrupted. "No, no, just hear us out! I really like him, and you're the closest to him out of everyone!"

Someone, mostly likely Riku, sighed, and it sounded deep and tired. "Why can't you ask Sora yourself?" Wait – him? Huh? Riku sounded angry now. "He probably won't listen to me."

Someone else sighed, and Sora knew it wasn't Riku. It was high and squeaky, so Sora's estimate was Selphie.

The said girl choked, before saying angrily, "Oh, and you think he'd listen to me? Geez, Riku, you're thick sometimes!" Okay, so maybe Selphie wasn't _that_ happy after all…

And what were they asking Sora?

"Look," said what Sora thought was Riku. "I'm going to go, and I'll try to talk to him about it, okay? Great, bye."

Sora jumped back, and took to leaning into the wall, just out of view from the window.

"But, Riku!" Kairi called out to the silver haired boy, who had frozen in the doorway at the sound of his name, not yet seeing Sora. "You don't want to, do you?"

Riku sighed, clearly aggravated. Sora admired the red haired girl's confidence. _How they can talk to him when he's that scary, I don't know. I mean, as Selphie said, we're the closest out of everyone, and still I'm scared!_

"Didn't you just try, for, oh I don't know, 10 minutes, to talk me into this. God, you're such a typical chick, Kairi!"

A little _'humph' _from Kairi and the stomp of a foot, but nothing else.

"Okay then," growled Riku, the back of his perfect silver head quivering at Sora's wide eyes. "Have a little sook, you cow."

And then the angry teenager turned to storm off, coming face-to-face with a trembling Sora. "Oh, said the older boy lamely. "I guess you know that I need to talk to you, then."

* * *

Riku was in such a bad mood. Kairi and Selphie had all but dragged Riku into an empty classroom, Kairi and Selphie both grinning wildly. For Selphie it was normal, but on Kairi, who was normally so quiet, yet, somehow so _not_ quiet, it just looked strange.

"What the hell do you want?" the silver haired boy grumped out. "And if you want me to kiss Sora or whatever, you can just turn around and walk out of the room while you have the chance."

Kairi laughed. "No! It's the opposite! What we want you to do is ask Sora out for good old Selphie here!" Kairi's grin toned down, but not enough to settle the hairs on the back of Riku's neck.

Riku looked at her, puzzled. "I thought he kept looking at m- someone else…"

Kairi's grin nearly completely faded. "He does. But that's why we need to get in before he has the chance to ask out 'm- someone else'." Kairi smirked at the shocked grimace Riku held on his face.

He cursed loudly, and Kairi jumped back, shocked. "Now, now! We only want you to help Selph out!"

Selphie nodded hugely. "Please! I really like him, ya know!"

"Please, Riku? For Selph!" Kairi looked at Riku with big, purple eyes, but they weren't blue and they weren't Sora's, so Riku found it less of a struggle to not give in.

"No! I'm not going to-"

"No, no, just hear us out! I really like him, and you're the closest to him out of everyone!"

Riku glared at Selphie. Then he sighed, leaning his head back against the seat. He felt tired – like he had run in an Olympic race, both physically and mentally. His eyes dropped shut, and he thought back to the conversation him and Selphie had the day before.

"Why can't you ask Sora yourself?" Riku jumped up, some of his energy back. "He probably won't listen to me."

Selphie sighed, pulling her spiky fringe back with her hand. She opened her mouth to say something, and then choked on her words. Her eyes flashed as she too, like Riku, became suddenly angered, storming up to Riku and poking his chest harshly.

"Oh, and you think he'd listen to me? Geez, Riku, you're thick sometimes!"

Riku stumbled back, stunned. Why, he wanted to…

_Be classy, Riku. Just like with the sketch book. Calm yourself. For all you know Sora might be looking in through the window, watching this whole episode. _A quick glance at the window told him otherwise, but sill Riku wanted to be the bigger person in this situation.

"Look," he said calmly, walking towards the door. "I'm going to go, and I'll try to talk to him about it, okay?" He put his hand on the door handle and turned it, not even waiting for a response from either of the girls. "Great, bye."

"But, Riku!" Riku froze, not turning, but not moving, unintentionally giving Kairi permission to keep talking. "You don't want to, do you?"

This made Riku see red. He sighed, trying to calm himself. _Picture Sora standing next to you, watching this. What would he want you to do? _He breathed in, and then out, in and then out… _Oh stuff it, if he was here, he wouldn't care what I did._

Riku turned to face the surprising look of Kairi's hopeful face. "Didn't you just try, for, oh I don't know, 10 minutes, to talk me into this?" Riku had to restrain himself from screaming. "God, you're such a typical chick, Kairi!"

Kairi crossed her arms and stomped her foot, pouting and making what was probably supposed to be a cute noise. But Riku wasn't for any of that, and that kind of childish behaviour made him even angrier.

"Okay then," he growled, just aware then that he was trembling. "Have a little sook, you cow."

Kairi's face went slack as she took in the older boy's words. Her arms drooped to her sides, and Riku needed to see Sora.

He turned swiftly, planning on running away, but instead running into some low-life figure. Riku steadied himself, ready to pounce, before he realised that the 'low-life figure' was Sora himself.

_Well, _Riku grimaced inwardly, _you got your wish._

"Oh." Was that all he could say? _Think, Riku, think! Other than the shade of Sora's eyes…Boy, I could get lost in them…_ "I guess you know that I need to talk to you, then."

He grabbed the brunette's shoulder roughly, but quickly loosened his grip when he heard the younger boy squeak in pain. "Sorry," he muttered.

Sora must have finally gotten his voice back, because the younger boy exploded with a yelp; "What the hell is going on, Riku?"

Riku grimaced. "Oh crap, how long were you there for?"

Sora shrugged as they stopped beneath the draping willow that hung outside of the school boundaries. "I was around long enough to hear that Selphie wanted you to ask me something, but you think she should ask me herself. And somehow, but I don't know how, Kairi is involved."

Riku couldn't help smiling. The angry look on Sora's face was one of those adorable pouts you _'aww'_ at, where they knit their eyebrows together, pinch up their noses, and use a high pitched, cutesy voice. "Well, you see, Selphie, ah…"

Sora's cutesy face vanished, and then it was all curiosity from the brunette teen. "Ooh, what's up with Selph? Is she okay?"

_He looks so worried._ "Yeah, yeah, she's fine – she's just going through guy problems."

"Guy problems?"

"Yeah," Riku nodded. He noticed how he couldn't quite make eye contact with Sora, knowing that if the blueness evolved around Riku again, everything would be out there, and the silver haired boy would be stripped of all he had built up to save. "The guy she likes, _apparently_ likes someone else."

Sora gulped, catching on to what Riku was trying to say, but trying to hide it. Riku pretended not to notice, and looked away from the tanned throat before something bad happened.

The bell went just at that moment, and Riku knew he could get away with anything, were Sora willing. But Sora wouldn't do any of that, being the innocent, protected 16 year old that he was.

"B… But w-what does that have to do with me?"

"Well, you see, you're the guy she likes."

Sora hated the look on Riku's face when he said that. "M-me?" Sora acted surprised, but secretly he had thought so when Riku had brought up Selphie liking someone.

Riku nodded. "Yeah," he sniffed quietly.

Sora looked at Riku worriedly. "Hey, are you okay, Riku?"

"Yeah, man, I'm cool."

"Great, I guess."

Riku snickered, lightening up. "What do you mean, _'you guess'_?" Riku asked teasingly, pushing Sora so that he fell horizontally over.

Sora hit the ground and went limp.

Riku bit his lip worriedly. Something like that wouldn't even begin to faze the older teen, but Sora, being tagged as delicate in Riku's brain, might actually be affected by that.

"Sora?" Riku went over to the motionless brunette. "If you are faking this," Riku said, trying to shake the boy back to life, "I will kill you-"

Riku was interrupted but the sound of Sora's golden laughter, and he jumped back, in a swirl of silver hair, confused.

Sora slowly went to sit up. He was still laughing when Riku leaned in, his face angry but gentle at the same time. Sora considered himself forgiven.

"Sorry, I just _had_ to do that," Sora laughed out, clutching his stomach. Suddenly his torso tingled, and Sora looked up timidly to see Riku's intense gaze.

_I can see your soul…_ it seemed to whisper, and Sora shivered, despite the spring heat. _I know everything about you…_

Suddenly the look wasn't uncomfortable. _I have nothing to hide._

Riku seemed to get the message, because his eyes fluttered shut, and he leant forward, whispering something to Sora's nose. "You really should say yes to Se-"

_**It's me, I'm the freak. Thanks for loving me, 'cause doing it perfectly. There might have-**_

"Stupid cell," Sora muttered, pulling the metal rectangle out of his pocket, flipping it open. It stated there was a message from Kairi.

_**From: Kairi**_

_**Time: 1:57 pm**_

_**Featured message:**_

_**Hey! Haz Riku tld u yet? Whatd u say? Plz reply! Xxx =T**_

"Oh, it's Kairi."

Riku growled, and Sora looked up, a pang of disappointment running through him as he noticed Riku had leaned away, and was now resting his back against the thick trunk of the tree, glaring at a mushroom near his right foot. "Typical," he spat down at the mushroom. "Bloody typical."


	3. Caught in a Storm

Hey guys! I now own Kingdom hearts! No, that's a joke. I don't own it. Please don't sue me.

Okay, okay, I know this one is actually really bad. And I really _was_ going to change it. I just... didn't. So, could all those people that really love me (because at least osmeone out there shoudl!) send me some ideas? I already had the next two chapters up, but they're kinda what I've already read, and even _I'm_ getting bored writing them. I promise I will stick this out until the end, though. But I don't know when that will be. Cringe.

I've got some ideas, so don't worry. And any questions, yeah, you can ask me. Also, I feel like such a suck-up, but... please review? I ask this is in a small voice. Please?

* * *

After school, Kairi caught up to Sora. "Hey," she said, breathless, her face red. "I've been calling out to you."

Sora grinned. "I know."

Kairi hit him on the arm. "You little twerp!"

Sora raised an eyebrow. "Twerp, Kairi? Really?"

Kairi blushed. "Shut up."

Sora started walking, and Kairi waltzed along with him, inviting herself to his house. "So," she said, tugging down her skirt an inch. "Have you got an answer?"

Sora rolled his eyes. "Can I get through one conversation _without_ someone being in love with someone else?"

"You are in high school. Fat chance." Kairi laughed, giving up on her skirt, and ignoring the looks from the group of guys they passed. She glared at them and walked past them just that little bit faster.

Sora looked at his shoes, unaware of what was going on next to him. He looked up, surprised that Kairi wasn't next to him anymore. "Hey, Kairi!" he called out. "Wait up!"

Kairi stopped, turning. "Okay then, babe! Whatever you say!" She grinned, batting her eyelashes.

Sora slowed to a walk. Kairi's eyes were telling him to play along. So, being Sora, he complied. "You know I hate it when you run off on me," he said smoothly, running up to link arms with Kairi. He felt weird that they fit together perfectly.

_The whole human race is like that, though. _He assured himself. _That's how men and women were created. To fit together. _A sudden thought flashed through his mind, completely out of order.

_Would Riku and I fit together?_

Sora shook his head and grinned, pretending to flaunt of the fact the Kairi was his 'girlfriend'. "There. I found you."

Kairi giggled. "Ooh, I love it when you play needy," she purred, waving a playful claw in Sora's face and making a cat noise.

Sora resisted the urge to gag, instead saying. "Oh, I can't wait any longer! I have to get you to my house, like, now!"

Kairi giggled wildly. "Bad boy, Sora, bad boy!"

Once they had rounded the corner, Sora let go of Kairi's arm, looking around dizzily. He felt exhilarated, although he had only run a few steps. He wasn't breathing heavily, but his head throbbed, and he felt kinda weak.

He pushed this feeling aside, hoping that if he ignored it, it would go away. "Now, why the hell did I just do that?"

Kairi blushed. "Oh, sorry, I just, well, these guys were looking at me weirdly, and I thought that if I flaunted off that I had a boyfriend that they'd-"

"Uh, Kairi, you don't have a boyfriend."

Kairi made a strange noise, using her hands to express how she felt. "Yes, but they don't know that! Geez!"

Sora nodded. "Okay then. But can we go home now? Please?"

Kairi didn't ask Sora about Selphie on the rest of the walk, because he looked tired; kinda sick, and she was still his friend, no matter how annoying and girly she got.

* * *

Riku looked at the time. 3:14. _What? How long did a minute go for? It has been that the last two times I've looked at it! Argh. _Riku sighed, resting his chin in his hand, letting it slide off, and drooping his eyes shut.

A silver strand of hair brushed across his nose, startling him. Riku woke, looking around.

He was in a room. It was dark, and there was nothing there but him. No people, no furniture, no nothing. Not even the darkness. Light. Dark.

Whatever he thought about, the opposite happened. He thought darkness, and light appeared. He though about the light, and darkness appeared.

Riku was scared. He needed company. _I don't need anything with me in this room_, he thought, hoping it had the effect he wanted it too.

It did. There was a flash of light, in which Riku knew everything about life, the secrets, the whispers, what lay behind doors…

_1___.…

_How did that get there?_

Riku's brain throbbed with all the knowledge, and just as he grasped what he should do about Sora, the flash went away, and Riku was left with, once again, nothing.

Except.

Except a small card that had flitted down to his feet. Riku picked it up. On the piece of paper was a name. Riku looked at this name. Why hadn't it been obvious before? Of course! Everything made sense now.

_I do not want to get out of here._

And he was free.

* * *

"What'd think is keeping Riku?" Kairi asked, sipping leisurely at her drink.

Sora laughed, grabbing the drink off the girl and mimicking her actions. "Hey, Kairi, _chill_. It's coke in a mug, not some tropical drink you can get on Destiny Islands or whatever that place is called."

Kairi scowled. "I allowed to dream," she said, snatching the mug off Sora.

Sora chuckled again, and then pulled out his phone and dialed Riku's number.

"_Hello?"_

Sora gasped. "Roxas? What the hell?"

"_Oh, ah, hi Sora."_

There was a thud, and then Riku's voice was on the line.

"_Hey, Sora! How are you?"_

Sora winced. Riku sounded _way_ too cheery. "Look," he said acidly into the phone. "If you're going to be all up my brother, it's not my problem, okay? It's _Axel's_."

Riku gasped. _"What? Huh? No, no! We're not- he's not- I… Argh! Listen Sora, please! _

Sora cut in. "Why are you trying to explain yourself to me? I don't care who you're with. It's not like we're gay together!" Sora felt angry. In fact, he felt so angry that he shoved the phone at Kairi, before running into the kitchen and throwing a plate at the ground.

Meiko jumped. "Sora!" she gasped, turning around. "What in the heavens of-"

"Ahh! Mom! Help me! My heart hurts!" the angst-filled brunette cried, clinging to his mother, crying.

In the other room, Kairi heard all this, shocked. "Hello?" she said politely, holding the cell phone gingerly to her ear.

"_What? Kairi?"_

"Riku? You- you're… Roxas, really, Riku?"

"_No, we're not-"_

"Is it just because they're twins? You can't get Sora, so you decide to take a play his brother, hoping that the fucking hair colour could be ignored?"

"_Huh? The hell!"_

"That's low, Riku," she growled into the phone. "Even for you."

* * *

Riku stared at the phone numbly. Then he looked up at Roxas. "They think we're in love. Or, at least, making love."

Axel scoffed. "While I'm in the room?" he paused, thinking. "Well, yeah, sure I'm into that, but seriously? My own boyfriend?" Axel chuckled, tugging Roxas to him and kissing him fair on the lips.

Axel was a ferocious kisser. He somehow released the tamed beast within Roxas. After coaxing a reaction from Roxas, Axel got kind of excited. He started to do things. Things that Riku didn't want to see.

So the silver haired boy cleared this throat.

Roxas froze, slipping down to hide in his boyfriend's chest, his face almost as red and the hair cascading out above him.

Axel laughed, not even mildly fazed. "Mine," he growled, playfully at Riku, and they both laughed, Roxas eventually joining in.

Roxas sighed. "Okay, so about Sora, you've just gotta let him do his own thing. I mean sure, give him a few hints, but don't force him into anything, okay?"

Riku glared at the blonde boy in front of him. "What do you think I've been doing?"

Axel smirked. "Not dropping hints?"

Riku went to say something, nut he stopped, realized that Axel was right. The smirk on the tall man's face grew, and Riku sat there, thinking of a plan.

* * *

"Kairi?"

"Yeah?"

"Well, I want you to ask someone out for me."

Kairi looked up. Sora was sitting with he face tucked into his knees, and Kairi could just picture how red he was underneath the mass of brown spikes. "Ooh," she exclaimed, putting down her lip gloss. "Who? Who?"

"Well…" Sora chickened out. "Rikku."

Kairi's eyes flashed with joy. "Oh my god, I knew you liked him!"

"Him?" Sora looked at her confused, whilst in his mind he was wondering. _Was it seriously that obvious? Crap! Save myself! Quickly!_

"Well, yeah, ya know, silver haired, aqua eyed prick?"

Sora laughed. He dismissed the thought of loving his best guy friend away with a swat of his hand. "No, no, I mean _girl_ Rikku. As in acrobats captain." Sora sighed inwardly. Why did he have the feeling he was now caught in a storm of lies from here on in?

Kairi looked disappointed. "Oh, the girl."

Sora scoffed. "What - do you think I'm gay or something?"

Kairi looked away. "No," she stammered. "Not gay, just…" she frantically searched for the right word. "Open-minded."

Sora chuckled. "Nice save. Anyway, can you do that for me?"

Kairi nodded. Once she thought about it, those two would actually be a really good couple. She was blonde with tanned skin, and always had a smile on her face. She was like Sora, except she was _way_ more outgoing.

Sora grinned. "Thanks."

Secretly, Sora and Rikku were great friends. Roxas and her older brother had been in a band together once, so they'd known each other through that. Then the band broke up, and Rikku and Sora never really hung out after that.

They still texted each other all the time though. Roxas hated Rikku's brother, so they couldn't actually hang out, as her brother hated Roxas in return.

Sora whipped out his phone. He went to contacts and picked out Rikku's name. Wincing at the fact he automatically clicked Riku's name without thinking, he unselected it, and picked the name below.

_**Hey plz pretend to be my gf? 2 much to explain right now but plz? Kairi is gunna ask u out 4 me. Say yes and u shall be rewarded. Thnx**_


	4. Sora PSMing isn't a Voluntary Sight

Just to let you know - this is soooooo not what I was going write! I've had this chap up for a while, but then I read it last night and it sucked. So I got up at around, well, early this morning and wrote all this. Then, now, I am posting it after school. No, seriously, except for the names, I don't think a single sentence is the same. They weren't even at school in the original chap!

So... if anyone is still reading this, then, well... thanks. I will - maybe - have another chap up either tonight or tomorrow. I am now obsessed with writing for these two! ARGH! What have you done to me?

And oh, I don't own Kingdom Hearts. WISH I OWNED KHII, BECAUSE THEN IT WOULDN'T BE SO GOD DAMNED HARD! Heh... I'm kinda stuck.

* * *

Sora had always felt somewhat oblivious. So that's why, when Kairi and himself turned up at school, he was baffled as to why Kairi whisked Riku away, setting themselves in deep discussion.

Sora felt a sort of ping in his chest, a loneliness, but he didn't go over there. Most likely for his own sake.

Instead he walked over to Roxas, of which he had spotted down the hall, holding hands and laughing with Axel.

He felt sort of awkward after the week before. And Roxas hadn't even dropped around on the Sunday to give Meiko his dirty washing. Sora had used to laugh at that. Lazy bastards, not doing their own chores.

Axel finally learned how to do the dishes, and Roxas was currently in the process of learning. Sora couldn't block the smirk that appeared on his lips at that, no matter how down he was.

He had hoped that no one would notice, and that he could just slip back into their trio, acting like they usually did. But, as per usual, things didn't go his way.

"Sora!" Axel boomed, and about half the hallway turned around to stare. Roxas looked around everywhere – anywhere – and it was obvious that he was just avoiding Sora's eyes.

Shoving his hands in his pockets, he slunk up to them, his face red. "Hey, Roxas. You really need a haircut."

Axel chuckled, elbowing Roxas. "See? That's what I said when it got in the way of my-"

Roxas yelped, and Sora couldn't help but bite back the grin forming on his face. Sora found that if he ignored the awkward atmosphere creating itself around his brother, everything was relatively normal.

"That's kinda gross," stated Sora, and his heart felt more alive when he saw Roxas hide a smile at his obviousness. Roxas and Sora had always had different smiles, and Sora loved Roxas' more than his own by so, so much. And sometimes, he even loved it more than Riku's. He jumped at the bluntness of that thought, literally jumping off the ground, and fell back into someone.

"Oh, sorry," he mumbled in a rush, straightening himself out. He went to push the hand of the other person off his shoulder, as they had gotten tangled up together in the stumble.

"Are you okay?" a voice asked, and Sora felt he knew it from somewhere. But he was sort of dizzy form being both clumsy and a not very good sleeper. His mind couldn't concentrate on that one, trivial thing. So he shook his head, his hair splaying everywhere, and tried to get it back together without toppling over again.

"Yeah, I'm fine..." Sora looked up into aquamarine eyes; his hand still on Riku's and gulped. When had they become so... inviting? So life-like, like liquid.

And although he was aware of the stares they were attracting, he couldn't look away. Because nothing really mattered in those few, sweet, blissful moments. It was only Riku and all the secrets he was hiding right behind his thin layer of protection, just out of Sora's reach.

Then Riku cleared his throat. "Ah, hey, Sora. You better, ah, watch your step." Then he turned back to Kairi, and she giggled. He punched her arm lightly, and they kept walking up the hallway, to their first class.

Sora felt a pang of jealousy. Kairi had three classes that day with Riku, and he had none. Also, looking around, he realised that time hadn't stopped, nor had it been hours, like it had felt.

It had only been seconds. "Yeah," he whispered, and the words came from his heart. "I better watch it, or I might stumble upon the wrong place."

* * *

Maths.

Such a bad thing, and yet, it was in everything. For instance, how much did Sora like Riku? How long had he been unaware of this fact? And, more importantly, how long ago had he actually starting admitting it to himself?

But he didn't get how knowing how to divide 788593 into a ridiculously long number would help in any way with that current situation.

He found that if he thought about other things, for instance, Riku, then the numbers would just flow through him simply. So, he took to daydreaming.

_What will I do if Rikku actually does say yes? It felt like such a good idea at the time, but now... I don't think I want to go through with it._

_Ugh. I feel so stupid. Of course Riku wouldn't do that to me- Um, I mean, of course Roxas wouldn't do that to Axel. Because they're, um, together and all that._

His shoulders slumped. Riku and Sora weren't together, though. Which was starting to really bug him. Possibly, he was just a kid after all. Because if Riku had ever felt that way about Sora - which he most certainly did_ not - _then he would have said it ages ago, not worrying about the consequence. So, why coudn't he just say what he wanted to already?

He already knew the answer. Because getting rejected by his best friend wasn't high up on his wish list. He knew that things wouldn't be the same if Sora confessed. Riku would just either brush it away, which would be extremely painful, or withdraw from Sora, either from fear or disgust, which would, obviously, be even worse.

Getting Kairi to say it would always be the easy way, if ever he thought there was even the smallest chance that Riku would accept his very humble offer. But there wasn't, and also, that wasn't going to work, because Kairi had probably done that kind of thing to poor Riku already.

Unless... Sora cringed.

Kairi was a girl, and so naturally she could see straight through Sora. But Riku was more observant than her by far, _and_ he knew Sora just that little bit better.

This wasn't good. This was not good at all. So, what was he going to do? How would he handle it if RIku had known it the whole time?

At the end of Math, he was still stumped.

* * *

Riku was having very similar thoughts of his end, only Kairi was there to make them more profound.

"Kairi," he growled through bared teeth. "Please, for both our sakes, shut up."

She scoffed, lifting her nose up. "Fine. But, ya know, I have information that you need."

Riku grimaced, looking away. So tempting. But no, he wasn't falling for it. "If I want that information, I'll go ask Sora for it personally."

Kairi giggled. "When did Sora come into this?"

Riku's eyes went wide. "But you said-"

"Yeah, but I never mentioned Sora."

Kairi grin told Riku that he had fallen in the trap, and as annoying and pointless as that was, he found he couldn't deny it. He just glared at Kairi until she got the message and started looking genuinely a little scared. Riku looked down at his history book, reading the words, but not processing them.

"Ah, Riku, up the back. What do you think of what I just said?" his very arrogant female teacher called out, and Riku grinned, a glint in his eye.

"Well, actually," he started, loving the feeling of suspense before his teacher's smirk would be wiped of her face. "I have to disagree, actually. They didn't rebel for the sake of it. There was a reason, naturally. As there always is. And I'm guessing it was because they had something they wanted to say, but they couldn't express it any other way. They had to say it best they could, and wait in hope until their opinion was either heard, or they were punished. "

And, just like that, the smirk was gone. She didn't say anything, taking to just nodding curtly. Riku does his own signature smirk in return. "Happy to oblige," he says, getting the message clearly.

The bell rings at the moment and everyone stands, grabbing their books and racing for the doorway. To them, that signified freedom, the chance to roam freely without distraction. Riku and Kairi on the other hand, liger back, both knowing that Kairi is going to say something involving Sora, Riku, and a major confession. Riku turns to her. "Yeah?"

But Kairi looks sad, and Riku takes off the smug look, replacing it with a mystified look. She had been fine two seconds ago. PMSing? Probably.

"Riku," she says, looking up at him with wide blue eyes. Okay, maybe not PMSing. Then she says something, and Riku stared at her dumfounded. All sound had left him, all his senses numb. He loses control of himself, and he blinks. In the one moment, Riku felt his heart shatter, the pieces scattered too out of reach.

"Sora, he, um, likes someone else."

* * *

Riku entered the cafeteria, automatically searching for the table with Sora sitting at it. He found him right away, and he looked sad. Riku felt a flash of anger go through his heart and soul. If that person had rejected Sora...

Then Roxas said something to Sora, and his eye shone. He looked over at Riku, grinning.

"What the..." Riku mumbled, making his way over to their table. Hadn't he been... Riku shrugged, sitting down. Sora was just as bad as Kairi at the PMSing thing. It was probably nothing. But, looking back at Sora, Riku read through him easily. He was hiding something, and Riku wanted to know what it was.

"So, how was Math?" he asked Sora, knowing full well how much Sora hated the subject. Sora groaned in reply, and began to repeatedly beat his forehead against the lunch table.

Riku cringed. Something really was wrong with him. Maybe he had been rejected. But by who? And when? And _why_? No matter how hard Riku thought about it, he couldn't think of one reason why someone wouldn't love Sora, or be upset or uncomfortable that Sora loved them in return.

Sora smiled, and Riku found his mind distracted. He rubbed his forehead, wincing. "Ouch. I have a hard head."

Axel laughed. "We all know, Sora."

Sora blushed. "Shut your mouth."

Riku laughed along with Axel. "Ooh, touchy."

Several things popped into Riku's head at the words mouth and touchy. Axel seemed to get this, being the kind of guy he is, and he laughed loudly, elbowing Roxas. Roxas cried out, and glared at Axel, before the tall red haired boy leaned down and whispered the joke into his ear. Then the blonde pinched his lips together, trying to stop his grin from cascading across his face.

Riku grimaced. "You, my friend," he said, picking up his apple juice and toying with the empty bottle. "Are so dirty that I don't how Roxas manages to stay as innocent as he is."

Axel just smirks.

Sora couldn't help but notice how alike Axel and Riku were. He looked back and forth between them, and felt the jealousy returning. Why couldn't he be part of this inside joke? Oh, right, because everyone saw him as the younger one, the one who didn't know anything except how to keep good grades and choose the best Blitz ball seats.

Sora looked down, studying the pocket on his jeans thoroughly. He felt suddenly depressed, and the fact he was depressed for no reason made him feel even worse.

"Sora?" asked a soft voice, and he looked up. Rikku was standing next to his chair, on the opposite side of Riku, looking down at him. "Are you alright?"

Sora nodded. "Yeah." Then he realised two things. One, he had given Kairi the instruction to bring these two together. Two, he had given Kairi the instruction to bring these two together, and Roxas was there, across the table from him. Well, how peachy.

Roxas audibly growled. It came ripping from the back of his throat. "Anything you'd like, Rikku?"

Rikku grinned. Sora couldn't hide his smile. Rikku had always ignored the obvious pressure between Roxas and her brother. "Yep, but don't you worry yourself. I'm not going to steal away Sora." She looked at Sora, a message coming through her eyes. "Sorry, Sora, Tidus bet you to it. And I, uh, said yes."

Sora winced. The message came through, just as planned. _Kairi wants you to tell Riku how you feel. Wish I could help. Sorry._

"Um..." he said, trying to think of a way to reply what he wanted to say, without actually _saying_ it. "Nah, its okay. I'll be fine." As in, _I'll be fine without telling him, thanks._

Rikku looked at Sora worriedly. "If you're, um, sure."

Then she turned and ran out the door before anything else could be said. Sora slumped down in his chair. _No, Rikku, I'm not sure at all._

* * *

"So... you can ask out the little sister of a guy I truly _don't like_, but you can't tell me why? How does that even work?"

Sora sighed. Roxas was so much better when he was happy. Sora hadn't been the one born with a temper. Roxas had obtained that gift. When they were kids, Roxas would always steal Sora's toys, because Sora had apparently done something bad, and then Sora would run away and cry. He didn't want to stand up to his older brother. That would be defiance, or, back then, treachery.

Riku looked at Sora as they walked out the door, the sound of the bell still ringing around in the back of his brain. It was after school, and they had all planned to go get ice-cream, to cheer Sora up a bit.

Axel, apparently, was taking advantage of that, though. "C'mon, Riku," he said to the silverette just before the bell went, putting an arm around his shoulder. "Think about it. Sora's upset, you're his best friend, coz let's face it – Roxas ain't very happy with him. And so, he'll depend on you. He will, eventually, see that you would never reject him, and fall for you." He clicked his fingers. "Bam. Happy ending."

Riku shook off the arm, walking just that little bit faster to get away from Axel and his dirty ideas. "Like that'd ever happen."

But, looking at Sora now, Riku felt the desperate need to help Sora. His eyes were red, which meant he was going to cry sometime soon, and his shoulders were slumped. He was dragging his feet along the ground, and he wasn't talking. Oh, other than, "Sorry, Roxas" and "I'm not telling." But considering it was Sora, that wasn't much at all. And Riku missed the bright smile and cheerful attitude. Where had it all gone?

Then Sora stopped walking. He spun around, and tears were pouring down his cheeks. They were out of the school grounds now, and were in that desolate place between town and school. No one was around, except for those four, and Kairi, who was up in the distance with Selphie.

"Riku," Sora whispered, before he leapton him, wrapping his arms around Riku's thin waist and clinging to him. Riku looked down, shocked to see Sora sobbing, actually sobbing, onto his white shirt. He bit his lip, and felt tears coming up his throat. He swallowed them down. This probably wasn't the time to scrunch up his face and hold Sora just as tightly as he was being held. Axel would never let him hear the end of it after it was all cleared up.

The whole scene was horrible, but Riku couldn't tear his eyes away. He just brought one arm around Sora's lower back, and used his other hand to pat the top of his hair. He wasn't very good at the comforting thing, but this was Sora, and he felt, as he watched, a caring, maternal side of him appeared inside himself, so genuine and real that it scared him.

He found himself stroking Sora's hair, massaging right down into the brunette's scalp. But he couldn't wonder at the softness, or get lost in this embrace, because Sora was devastatingly upset, and that burnt Riku to the core.

Sora was quietly silently, and that worried Riku. He had found that, over time, he could get a feel for the extent of a person's pain by the rhythm of their sobs or chokes. But Sora's shoulders shaking didn't give Riku the slightest hint.

Sora mumbled something into his shirt, and his shoulders visibly slowed in trembling. Sora mumbled it again, but still Riku couldn't hear. He wanted to ask Sora to speak up, maybe even lighten the mood, but he couldn't move - he couldn't even speak.

"Riku," mumbled Sora. "Riku."

Riku closed his eyes, trying to stay calm. Sora was whispering his name, over and over. This had the effect of lulling them both into a quieter, more meaningful state. Riku was still aware of Axel and Roxas' presence, and sometime through Sora's heartbreak and Riku's pain, Kairi and Selphie had joined them, too.

But none of that mattered. Sora was okay. He was sobering up. He would make it. And whatever was worrying him, surely he would tell Riku about it? _No_, thought Riku. _Of course he would. _

But doubt still nagged at his mind. What if he didn't... He pushed away those thoughts, his muscles tightening, and he gritted his teeth. His heart throbbed without permission, and Riku looked down to see Sora nuzzle into his stomach like a small, frightened child.

"Riku."


	5. Sora's Stomach Muscles

Yes, yes, I know. Before you tell me, I'm not very good at mushy crap like this. Also, who else thinks I'm on a roll here? Anyone... anyone at all... No one? Okay.

Now, this is _not_ the end, my friends! I repeat: Not the end! There is still come crap that is gonig to happen. Hahahahahaha! I don't know what it is, but I like this story... kind of... and wanted to keep it going.

Oh, and a MASSIVE thanks to Keuraki-SoraXRiku to commenting to like, everything! Thanks, lovely!

Oh yeah, you know the jitz. I don't own Kingdom Hearts, I wish I did, blah, blah, blah. Oh yeah, anyone know some good CloudxSora fics? I WANT THEM! Thanks, guys! xx

* * *

After that, Sora seemed thoughtful. Riku was still smirking about Sora's aftershock to him clinging to the silverette like a child, but Sora was determined to forget that part. He had been in Riku's arms. For those few minutes, he was satisfied. But, in a way, it was worse, because now he knew what he was missing out on.

Riku's body was warm, and it smelt of some sweet candy that Sora had never thought of trying, but was now dying to taste. Just as Sora had hope the previous week, Sora and Riku fit together perfectly. But he truly, honestly, hadn't meant to attack Riku like that.

* * *

This is what had happened when Sora sobered up enough to realise what he was doing, and who his audience was:

_"Riku." Sora heard a sigh of contentment, and realised that Kairi was standing behind him, taking in the moment. "Ah, u-um. Riku!" he cried, jumping back, his arms going in the air. He brought one arm behind his neck, cupping it in his hand. "Heh. So, um, how are you going? Nice morning, isn't it?"_

_Axel chuckled. "Sora, it's three-thirty. And so far, I'm sure his morning has been great."_

_Sora blushed. He felt so stupid. Why had he just done that? Sure, he had felt so, so sad, but honestly? Then he smiled, and he knew nothing anyone said, not even Axel, could break his spirits now. Riku hadn't pushed him away. Instead, he had stroked his hair in a way that had made Sora want to purr._

_Riku, on the other hand, chuckled. "C'mon. I want ice-cream."_And so it was then, when they arrived, that Sora and Riku were left alone on the beach, waiting in an awkward silence until Kairi and Selphie returned with ice-creams and refreshments.

* * *

Of course, Axel and Roxas were there with them, but Roxas was being squished into the sand, Axel on top of him, and their faces were occupied with, ah, something/somebody else.

"So..." said Riku. Then he sighed. It wasn't good enough. It just wasn't. Then he looked over at Sora, who was still smiling happily. He wasn't unaware of the atmosphere, Riku could tell, but still, he was happy.

Riku had always been sort of jealous and yet intrigued as to how Sora could flaunt his emotions so easily. Riku was sitting there, looking bored, while Sora was gazing dreamily out to the ocean. But Sora knew Riku well enough to know that Riku wasn't truly as bored as he seemed.

Actually, he was quite entertained. Sora's shirtless body had wet sand clinging to it, and his hair was maybe still a little bit wet. Sora had shaken his head madly as he raced out of the ocean, along with Roxas, and in their competition to see who could dry their hair the quickest, they had somehow managed to get untameable hair.

But Riku thought Sora suited the untamed look. He wished he had brought his sketch book, because that was something that he would not be satisfied with just keeping pictured in heart for years to come. He wanted a camera, a pencil and paper, anything.

Then Sora turned his attention toward Riku, and the light that emitted off him had Riku feeling like a hopeless fan girl. "What's up, Riku?" he asked, and his voice reminded Riku of those new cherries that were selling extremely well at the Sunday markets.

Riku looked away; resisting the urge to put a hand to his eyes to shield them from the bright beam Sora was projecting the world. "N-nothing."

Sora laughed, and Riku's ears begged for more of the sound. "You stuttered," he stated happily. "Something must really be up."

Riku cringed visibly, but thank God his head was hiding in his arms, which were resting on his knees. Everything about Sora was so tempting. It was as if Sora knew how Riku felt about him. If they hadn't been at a public beach... If they had been hanging in Riku's room, or the Secret Place...

Riku found himself grateful that so many people had decided to tag along with them on this small outing.

Sora sighed, and the sound was so different from his previous attitude that Riku lifted his head form its resting place. "Riku, I have something I wanna say."

Riku looked at Sora more closely, mystified. But Sora had shut everything off, and his posture was relatively normal. _Damn, Sora! Why do you have to be so secretive now! Why can't I read you...?_

"But, ah, I'm only saying this once, okay?"

Riku nodded, even more puzzled than before. What was Sora going to say? Suddenly the suspense caught up with Riku, and he found it hard to breathe.

Sora looked away, but his voice stayed the same volume. Loud enough for Riku to hear, but unless Axel or Roxas came and actually sat face to face with either of the boys, they wouldn't be able to hear by a long shot. "I..." he said, but it seemed to be hard to get out.

Sora took a deep breath and tried again. "I... I-I..."

Riku felt a bit of understanding. Was Sora trying to...

"_There was a reason, naturally. As there always is. And I'm guessing it was because they had something they wanted to say, but they couldn't express it any other way. They had to say it best they could, and wait in hope until their opinion was either heard, or they were punished."_

Riku sat up straight. No. He couldn't be. That would just be... weird, right? For two best friends – best _guy_ friends - to like each other in such a way.

Sora looked up at Riku, grinning. "I can see Kairi and Selphie coming back."

Riku looked down at Sora, fighting the power of those big, blue eyes. "Yep," he scoffed. "So you'll tell me later what it was, right?"

Sora looked at Riku, puzzled. "What'd you mean?" he asked, standing to go walk over to the girls, who were bearing various ice-based products. "That's what I wanted to say."

Riku nearly fell for it, but then he remembered the atmosphere, and how much emotion was put into that one, stuttered word, and he was immune to Sora's big eyes.

Not forever, of course, just for then. In fact, in around five minutes, he would probably be pushed into something else, simply because Sora asked him, and Riku would find himself not even able to refuse.

* * *

When Roxas came and sat next to Sora, the brunette worried. Would he get in trouble? Would he be scolded? Then he blushed, because for a fifteen year old boy, that didn't sound too mature.

But Roxas and he had just never left that facade. Roxas was the bully of a big brother, whom usually, when no one else was watching, was kind and caring. And Sora was the cry baby, whom was nicer than Roxas, but also more vulnerable.

But Roxas just sat in silence, and every moment Sora's pulse quickened. Until finally, he couldn't take it anymore. "Roxas," he said quietly, jumping when his brother turned to look at him. His face wasn't angry. It wasn't even scary. It was just... sad. Sora gulped. "What's wrong?"

Roxas pursed his lips. "I just feel sorry for Riku."

Sora didn't react in any way, and he hoped this was one of those amazing times when Roxas wouldn't be able to see through him. "Why?' he asked, allowing just the right amount of curiosity and worry to leak into the sentence.

Roxas look back out to the ocean. "Because he's upset, but, for some reason, he won't tell any of us."

Sora looked over at Riku. He was laughing as he struggled to keep Kairi's camera straight – him being the volunteer to take pictures of Kairi and Selphie in various cliché poses.

"He doesn't look sad," said Sora, and he wondered where Roxas was going with this. "So," he continued, wanting to change the subject. Any mention of Riku being sad tightened Sora's chest. "What do you think is wrong with him?"

Roxas looked back at Sora. "You haven't spent much time with him lately," he hinted, but it wasn't the answer to Sora's question. It was just, in itself, a hint.

Sora blanched, feeling his throat go dry. "W-what does this have to do with Riku and him b-being upset?"

Roxas just stood, giving Sora a meaningful look, before returning to Axel, whose arms, in a figure of speech, were open wide.

Sora bit his lip, looking out to the ocean. He spread his legs out; his toes touching the sand, and fell back onto the blanket. He wiggled his toes, letting the warm, dry sand relax him, until he was almost sleepy.

* * *

Kairi giggled. "Hey," she said, nudging Selphie. "Look at Sora."

Riku sighed as they both stared in wonder at the brunette behind his back. It was hopelessly obvious what they were doing. Regardless of this knowledge, he turned, wondering what could be so important.

He bit back a gasp. Sora was lying on a blanket, his eyes shut and his hands over his stomach self-consciously. Unlike Riku, he hadn't developed full stomach muscles yet, but they were forming, and starting to seem almost obvious in the tanned skin that Riku found himself craving for so much.

Kairi giggled, and then pushed Riku forward, causing him to stumble. "Go over there, Riku! Tell him something! Anything!"

Riku swore quietly. "Kairi," he said. "One day you will die."

Both girls just giggled as Riku made his way over to the dozing Sora. When he got to Sora, he suddenly remembered a current theory that he planned on testing. Did Sora really... like Riku in that way?

"Hey, Sora." Riku tapped Sora's hip with his foot, and the brunette, gasped, his eyes flying open.

"Huh? Where am I?" He looked up at Riku. "Oh, hey. It's just you."

Riku inwardly winced. _Not such a great start to my theory. _"Wake up," was Riku's reply, but he voice was dead. "I'm bored."

Sora sat up, still groggy. He rubbed his eye, his bottom lip sticking out. Riku's heart swelled slightly. Sora seemed to mesmerise Riku no matter what he did. If he was happy, he shone. If he was upset, Riku wanted to comfort him. If he was angry, Riku felt intrigued. If he was sleepy, Riku wanted to pick him up and devour him right then and there.

Sora was so cute. He looked up at Riku, his eye still rubbing the last traces of sleep away, and grinned. It took Riku every ounce of his emotionless control to not grab his heart a twirl around in the sand. Right then, he was probably more in love than he had ever been before.

But Sora, as usual, remained oblivious. "Sit down then! Let's talk!" Sora's voice was high pitched, and he cleared his throat. "Why's my voice doing that?" he asked, but it had returned to normal. He smiled, satisfied. He got into a comfortable position, legs spread out and hands outstretched behind him to support his weight.

Riku sat down beside him, returning to his usual tucked up in a ball position. "So..." Riku couldn't think of anything to say. He wanted nothing more than to blurt out, "Sora, please be my boyfriend! I love you!" but poor little Sora may never de-traumatise from the shock.

Riku heard Kairi giggling behind him, and winced. "This isn't going to be good."

Sora shrugged. "So won't do anything that ba-umph!"

Kairi and Selphie laughed hysterically, and Axel chuckled too. Riku couldn't hear Roxas laughing, but he probably was. Kairi had a hand on both Sora and Riku's head, and had pushed their faces together.

Then reality settled in. The first kiss. Okay, it wasn't anything special, and Kairi really _would_ die later, but for that moment, he was fighting his eyelids – just like he did when he wanted to finish a sketch and he had school in the morning.

So Riku jut let himself imagine. He imagined that he pushed Kairi away, and leaned forward, pressing Sora into the sand like Axel had done to Roxas before. Then he would move his lips slowly, speeding up as he went along, tasting all the tastes he could now.

So he couldn't help it when his lips moved, even just twitched, in their own reaction to his thoughts. Sora gasped and sat back, spluttering, while Riku just sat there, frozen, stunned.

Even Kairi was speechless. Selphie was frozen mid-laugh, her leg in the air and her arm wrapped around her stomach. Axel's eyes were wide, but he was smirking. Roxas was looking at Sora worriedly.

"Riku deepened the kiss..." was the whisper that left Kairi's lips, and Sora sat up, his eyes flashing.

"No, he did not! He was probably moving his lips to tell you to _fuck off_!" Sora turned, extremely pissed, and ran towards the Secret Place. Kairi looked after him, mouth wide, and Selphie actually toppled over.

Axel and Roxas, on the other hand, looked at each other, grinning. "Finally! Sora gets angry at somebody!" Axel boomed, and they both started laughing hysterically.

"Sora... swore... at... Kairi!" Roxas choked, rolling around. Riku and Kairi both turned around at the same time, hissing. "Shut up!" they growled at the same time, and Riku stood up.

He sighed, running a hand through his damp hair. "I guess I'll go fix it then."

He stood so quickly that by the time he was up, he was off. Sprinting off down the beach, the sand exploding around his feet. Kairi smiled. "I don't know what just happened, but I'm glad that they will work it out."

Roxas stood, slowly, and made his advance towards Kairi. A dark energy seemed to pulse from him, and Kairi yelped, sensing it. She turned around, almost shaking in fear. "R-Roxas?"

"You..." he hissed, pointing an accusing finger at the trembling red head. "You stole Sora's first kiss."

Kairi took a step back. "N-no I didn't!" Then Roxas started running towards her, almost as pissed as Sora, and Kairi screamed, and they began a game of 'How long will Kairi survive?'

"Riku did it! Not me!"

"Like hell! He would never be that harsh! Poor fucking Sora!"

* * *

Sora was still breathing heavily as he slumped against the stone wall of the Secret Place. He wasn't sure if it was because he was tried out, annoyed, or because Riku and him had kissed.

Although... Surely Riku hadn't deepened the kiss. No, that would just be stupid. Riku would never do that. He probably liked someone like Selphie or something.

Sora winced. Okay, maybe not Selphie. Then he raised a hand to his lips, his fingers lightly skimming over them. His eyes looked down in wonder, and he realised that his mouth tasted different. Maybe that happened sometimes. And Riku's lips had been so soft...

"Yeah, first kisses will do that to you."

Sora jumped, coming back to the real world. Then he laughed awkwardly. "Y-yeah. My mouth feels weird now."

Riku went to sit next to Sora, and the brunette felt an urge to kiss the older boy, so strong that he had to close his eyes and look away to stop himself from acting upon it.

So, instead, he tried to distract the both of them. "Hey, about what Kairi said... don't worry about it."

Riku suddenly twitched, and Sora looked at him. That would have to be the first time he had seen Riku uneasy.

"What's wrong, Riku?" he asked, and something in his heart tweaked. Had it really been that bad for Riku? Sora felt ashamed. There he was, marvelling at how great everything had been, how he was up in the clouds, while Riku had been stomaching disgust and anger towards both him and Kairi.

Riku took a deep breath, and Sora knew it was important, whatever the silverette was going to say, and so he sat up straight. But then worries started filling his mind. _Is he going to tell me that we can't be friends? That he could accept before that I liked him, but now it had just gone to far? _Sora swallowed. _No. Riku wouldn't say that... Right?_

"Sora, I uh, I..." Riku shuffled his position, making it so he body was curled up, but he was facing Sora. Sora saw that there were tears in Riku's eyes, and braced himself for something bad. "Sora... I love you."

Sora froze. "C-come again?"

Riku looked down. "I'm not saying it again," he muttered, and Sora smiled because a bit of Riku's normal attitude had leaked back into that statement.

Sora scoffed. "Fine then. Be defiant."

Riku looked up. "I love you," he admitted, and his voice was stronger this time. Sora looked down at him (A/N – OMG Sora is finally able to look down at Riku in one point of the story! Yes! Go, go, Sora! Anyways... continue) and there were no words to describe how he felt.

But he was in shock still, and he knew that when that shock disappeared, he would feel all those feelings magnified, and ten times stronger.

"You have so much courage," Sora said, admiring how brave the older boy was. "I wanted to tell you, but I couldn't get it out."

Riku looked up. "So you were trying to confess before!"

Sora's eyes widened. "So, wait... you knew?"

Riku shrugged. "I kinda had got the feeling a few minutes later."

Sora knew he should reply, but he didn't want to speak. He wanted to gaze at Riku's eyes, trace the patterns of his skin with his eyes, marvel at how those soft lips had touched his, and then, finally, he wanted them to touch his lips again.

Riku slowly lifted a hand.

"What are you doing?" asked Sora, but Riku silenced him with a look. Then Riku's hand, eventually, came to rest on Sora's cheek. Sora's breath was limited at that point, but when a pale thumb caressed his cheekbone, his lungs shut off for good.

Riku was taking too much time. Like he always did in massive situations. He was worrying about the trivials, the details, and not focusing on the big picture here. Sora, on the other hand, liked to take things head on, and so he did. (A/N: again - Oh, c'mon! No one will pick it up if I don't point it out! Get it! 'Head on.' As in, they're kissing... Head... on? Yeah, I'm probably the only one who actually finds that funny.)

He leaned forward and pressed his lips hard on Riku's, his eyes shut tight. Riku chuckled, and his hot breath went all over Sora's face. He went to lean back again, but Riku kept him there.

"We're not done yet," Riku whispered hoarsely into Sora's mouth, and the not-so-innocent brunette held back a moan. He let go of the lead – Riku could do whatever he wanted now.

So Riku opened his mouth a bit wider, and then they progressed.

While both boys were, um, lusting after one another, they both knew that this kiss, the one they took as their _actual_ first kiss, was filled with a love running so deep, that they were surprised they hadn't seen it to begin with.

Just the one kiss. It didn't last very long, but it signified that their love for each other would.

"Sora," Riku choked out, having extreme difficulty. "Be my boyfriend?"


	6. Riku's Sexual Preferences

So... I lost this chapter, then edited a whole new version of this, and now I find it again! AHHHH! I _really_ hope you guys like this, because, honestly, it was like, WAY too much work to actually get through. Oh, yeah, and I don't own Kingdom Hearts of anything else I may have written about in here.

Thanks, guys! xx

* * *

"Okay, so, just to make sure..." Sora muttered, feeling extremely uneasy. What if Kairi saw through them? Or worse, _Axel_. Sora wanted to shutter at the thought. "We're not going to anyone, right?"

Riku sighed. "Yes, So-_ra _. We've already agreed on this way too many times. Can you just walk in the door?"

Sora was hiding behind a large bush, and Riku was standing next to him. Then Riku got a brilliant idea. He crept his finger up Sora's spine, and the younger brunette quickly stepped out from behind the bush, acting like he had come that way for some completely normal reason.

Kairi grinned. "Sora! I didn't see you last night! Did you and Riku..." she raised her eyebrows suggestively, and Sora looked around to see like, everyone who was entering the school staring at him again.

"Kairi!" he whined. "Shut up! Everyone is staring! And no, we didn't do anything weird!"

Kairi laughed as Sora ran over to her. "You're so innocent, Sora. 'Weird' is such a childish way to put it."

Sora pouted. "I am _not_ a child!" he said, deliberately stomping his foot. Kairi laughed again, and her face started to go red. "Um, Kairi," Sora said, taking a step back. "It really wasn't that funny."

Kairi nodded, doubling over. "Y-yes it was! You're hilarious, Sora!"

Sora took another step back, raising an eyebrow. "Um... Kairi... you're scaring me."

"Wassup, people? I am _here_!"

Sora knew it was Axel before he turned around. To his surprise, he was standing next to Roxas was Riku. How had the silverette pulled that off? He lived nowhere near them. Unless he...

Sora froze. No, no, he hadn't told them. Otherwise Axel wouldn't be casually laughing, with his arm loosely draped around Roxas' shoulders. And Riku looked calm, smiling about something Roxas was saying to him.

Sora felt a surge of both anger and jealousy run through him. Why couldn't Kairi and Axel be normal people? Like Roxas? If they weren't such jerks, he wouldn't have to hide his jealousy at the fact that Roxas could get as close to Riku as he wanted – if he ever did – because they weren't rumoured to be together already.

But then Riku looked at Sora, as if in slow motion, and all his bad feelings were gone. He was cleansed. He grinned, trying desperately to keep up the facade. "Hey, guys!" he called out, walking over to them. He still felt a slight pang of misery, but he pushed it away. Riku was back, and he didn't want extra-observant people, even if they were his boyfriend, asking him all these demanding questions. He just wanted to feel happy with Riku.

They all smiled. "Hey," they replied.

And then, as they walked inside, Sora felt Riku's eyes on his neck.

* * *

Today was one of those two days. Riku didn't have any classes with Sora that day. He hated Fridays. He always had. And it made Riku wonder, had Sora always hated them, too?

As they walked inside, Riku found himself not able to look away from Sora. The brunette was just the same as always, telling Axel he was gross, and begging Roxas to come to dinner one night soon. Huh. Who knew that kid was such a good actor?

But Riku felt some hurt inside his little body of bliss contentment. He had dreamed of being with his best friend for a long time. It had felt good just knowing that Sora counted him as a friend – a person he trusted. But now that he knew Sora loved Riku, well, that was a whole other.

But then why wasn't Sora sneaking peeks at him, like Riku was to him? That was where the hurt throbbed. In that one, small thought. But then Sora smiled at everyone, waving. "See-ya!" he called, biting his bottom lip. He blinked, and for a second it seemed as if his eyes were closed for a few moment longer than they were supposed to be.

Riku smiled. Sora was so beautiful. Gorgeous. Anything. _Everything_. The silverette felt like he weighted nothing, and he practically skipped to class, ignoring Axel's jibes and Selphie's giggles.

* * *

Sora had Kairi and Roxas to worry about. He deliberately sat on the other side of the room from those two, and they noticed. Roxas kept sending him winks; Sora saw from the corner or his eye, and Kairi kept poking her tongue out at him.

Sora had always been kinda good at English. He got paired, teachers choice, with a girl called Olette. She had brown plaits and a really awesome fringe, in Sora's opinion. Her pants were three quarters, and her singlet was orange. Sora thought they suited her nicely.

Olette was quite good a writing as well, and had a wide imagination. Sora found out she wanted to be a writer when she was older, but right then, she just couldn't care less about the effort, and she wanted to enjoy school as it came and went.

"School is the place that sets you up for your future," she said. "But, of course, you sound like a nerd if you put it like that. So, I tend to see it as... one hurdle in the race-track of life."

Sora thought this girl was smart. And funny. And extremely pretty. All the things that would make Sora crush after her hopelessly. But he couldn't even bring himself to imagine her kissing him. That would just be gross. Riku, on the other hand...

_Oh my God! _thought Sora, panicking. _Am I gay? Like, truly, honestly gay?_

He knew what Riku would say.

_"Well, you like a guy, you kissed a guy, and you are a guy. So, yep, you probably are."_

But... that would mean that Riku would be gay, too.

Olette looked up as Sora started laughing uncontrollably, for no reason. "A-are you alright?"

Sora just nodded, brushing her away with a hand. Kairi and Roxas had ended up together and both looked over at him. He just grinned at them, sticking his tongue out dopily. He continued laughing.

_R-Riku's... gay! AHAHAHAHAHA!_

It was then the bell went, and Olette slid what they had written so far into her textbook. Sora clutched his stomach, wiping his eye free of tears, and smiled at her. "Thanks," he said. "You were really great to work with."

She blushed a little. "Um, t-thanks, Sora." Then she scooped up her stuff and bolted to the door. Sora stared after her. What a strange reaction to have.

* * *

Honestly, how long would Sora last, until he could be with Riku freely? Without Kairi giggling away, Axel screaming it out, and Selphie telling the whole world.

He was very obviously agitated at lunch, and, as he lined up for his food, he pouted. He was in deep thought. What was he going to do? Riku wasn't even in the cafeteria yet! Sora sighed. Things were not going good for his relationship.

Also, when would he get to kiss Riku again? Riku had pecked him quickly on the lips before they had left the Secret Place the night before, but had made no advance to do anything this morning. Was it that... Sora was a bad kisser? Or maybe, now that he had tested it, he didn't like Sora like that? Or maybe it was...

Sora inwardly groaned. These thoughts weren't supposed to be appearing until at least a week of going out, right? Sora felt suddenly depressed.

Then Riku walked in, looking around frantically. Sora slumped his shoulders. If only he were looking for Sora. But no, he was looking for which table they were going to sit at today. Maybe not, though, because Roxas waved at the silverette, and then Riku waved back. But he was still looking. Sora didn't want to get his hopes up, but it honestly seemed like-

Riku caught eyes with Sora, and was immediately happier than before. Sora felt some of Riku's grin squirm its way in his heart, and suddenly, everything was okay again.

Sora scolded himself for being so madly in love. He had only started the relationship the night before! But, it felt like Sora had loved Riku his entire life.

Who knew? Maybe he had. Maybe he hadn't. But everyone, including Sora, thought he had.

Grabbing the tray out the bench, he made his way over to Riku and the others. Kairi grinned at him, and Axel made a peace sign. Sora poked out his tongue, taking his usual seat next to Riku.

His lungs stopped and his heart jumped as his leg brushed against Riku's on the way down. He forced his blush away, and focused on unwrapping the plastic cover on his sandwich. It was chicken and salad, one of Sora's favourites.

Since that night, all of Sora's feelings felt magnified. Not just towards Riku, but to everything. He could now see the gaps between the grains in his bread and the actual soft fleshy part of the bread. The colour was slightly different, and the textures were so contrasting, they looks mutated - like two different foods being glued together.

Then again, and this was the down part, he could now see the glint in Axel's eyes as he stared down Riku.

This made Sora worry. What had Riku told him? Although, he wasn't looking at Sora, so it must have been something else. But, it couldn't be something too major, or else Sora would know about it.

The brunette pursed his lips as he thought back to all the recent conversations he and Riku had conversed in lately. Riku hadn't seemed to say anything particularly Axel-stare-down worthy.

Sora shrugged it off, hypothetically, and went back to devouring his sandwich. Then someone shouted something inaudible, and there was a loud crash. Sora jerked his head up, shocked.

Olette had landed sitting down, her legs splayed out everywhere, and one of her arms drenched in what looked to be tomato sauce. At least, Sora hoped it was tomato sauce. A girl with wildly orange hair was standing above her, visibly fuming. Her chest struck in and out, and Sora guessed she was breathing deeply.

"Olette!" he cried, shooting up from his seat. He shoved the chair out of the way and ran over to where Olette was. Her lip was trembling, and he hoped with all his anything that she didn't cry. She looked up at him, and gave him a small smile.

Sora bit his lip. "C'mon," he said, helping her up. He looked around to see the angry girl storm out of the cafeteria, and decided it was best to stick with the person he knew, and not some crazy, pissed off stranger who could beat Sora to a pulp in less than three seconds. "You alright?"

Olette nodded. "She's a bit... annoyed."

Sora laughed, bending down to pick up Olette's food and store them on her tray. Thankfully the sauce had come from a packet, and that packet was sealed shut with its content. He stood up straight, his arm drenched in chocolate milk, and handed her the tray.

"Here," he smiled, smiling politely. "You can come sit with us if you want."

Olette smiled. "Really?"

Sora nodded. "Mhm."

Then he led Olette over to his current table, shocked to see the look on everyone's face. Roxas looked like he was in deep concentration, Kairi was pouting, and Axel was smirking at an extremely upset Riku, whom, as soon as he felt Sora's eyes on him, composed his face.

But Sora had seen the anger, and sympathised. He had felt that jealousy that morning, and that was with someone Riku wouldn't even take a chance with, even if he had one! Poor Riku...

But, regardless, Sora pulled up a chair and sat Olette down. "Guys," he said, looking around the table. Everyone had returned to [their definition of] normal, except Roxas, who still had his eyebrows furrowed. "This is Olette." Then he looked at Olette, smiling. "This is Roxas, Axel, Kairi and"- - his heart skipped a beat – "Riku."

Roxas' eyes widened and he grinned. "You're Hayner's girlfriend, right?" he asked, proud of himself for figuring that out.

Olette looked away, at a spot that just happened to be Sora's knee. "Ah, no, he's just a close friend. Why?"

Roxas looked away politely, shaking his head, but Sora could see his smile was amused. Olette shifted uncomfortably. "So... um..."

Sora had taken to looking at Riku, and he found, looking past Riku's mask as well as he could, that Riku was jealous. Sora took a deep breath through his nose. How could he fix this? Everyone was there, so he couldn't very well just say it plainly.

"Olette is my partner for the new English assignment," the brunette stated, looking at everyone except Riku. Hopefully his brooding boyfriend would get the message. "It's really hard, and she's, like, a genius."

Olette blushed. "No, I'm really not. Sora would be the brilliant one in our team."

Kairi squealed. "Ooh, Olette! We _have_ to hang later! I could so totally use some tips on how to get my hair like yours!" She gave a meaningful look at Sora and the younger boy blushed, all this blood running to his head.

Olette nodded shyly. "That'd actually be kinda cool."

Sora snuck a look at Riku. His eyes hid behind silver hair, but the shape of his lips told Sora he felt slightly better. Although he couldn't see his boyfriend's eyes, he flashed a grin at Riku, before turning back to the rest of the group.

His throat loosened up, and he knew now that Riku would trust him.

* * *

"C'mon, Riku! Please?"

"Nope."

Sora sighed. Riku sighed. It was around a week later, and Olette had suggested that Sora and her crash at someone's house to study for the upcoming English test. But Riku's jealousy overcame him – it was like he was possessed.

"But it's just a study session!" Sora reasoned, struggling to catch up to the fuming Riku.

Riku hadn't missed fact Sora had purposely missed the word 'date'. Most girls would giggle and say they had a study date with the guy of their dreams, due to a term exam, and Riku was beginning to see just how obvious it was that Olette had feelings for Sora, just like those worthless females that lingered the halls.

He shook his head, starting to run again.

"Riku!" Sora cried, panting. "Stop running!"

Riku sensed a pain in Sora's voice, and he wondered what was wrong. Was he really that puffed out? He turned, and saw that tears were welling up in those blue eyes, a few running down his cheeks in their race to escape.

Riku walked back quickly. "Hey, are you okay?"

Sora choked on something, but then he straightened up. "Yeah," he said in a harsh voice that Riku had never heard from anyone before, let alone Sora. "Just... don't follow me home, okay?"

Riku gulped, nodding. He had never felt, well, threatened before. But now he was almost terrified. He wanted the old Sora back. Even if that meant comforting him, wiping his tears, and letting Olette study with him.

He knew he needed to say something to Sora, but he didn't know what. And by the time he had gotten his voice back, Sora was gone.

* * *

Riku always went to the islands if he wanted some peace. So he hopped in his little boat and went there. Once there, he docked the wooden carrier and walked calmly over to the beach. He stared at the waves. They were meaningless now.

He had loved, what he thought was unrequited, a love for his best friend since he was ten years old. That would be six years of waiting and fuming and crying because he was different to the other boys.

It was because they knew each other the best out of everyone on that whole island. Sora didn't have many secrets, but Riku knew them all. He was scared the dark, his sensitive spot was just underneath his bellybutton, and secretly he wanted children when he was older.

Riku had always cherished Sora, even before he knew what it was to love in the way he did now. Sora had always ran to Riku for help without a think that anyone else out there could help him. At first it was because Roxas had been a bully, then because the guys at school weren't treating him nicely. Then there were girl problems – Riku hated that he was the one who got Sora all lovey-dovey again with girls, but that just was how it was – and hard Math problems.

So...

Why had he never seen that side of Sora before? Riku knew they wouldn't break up, and most likely tomorrow Sora would be back to normal, but that was what scared him. Sora would just brush it off – brush off the one thing that had swirled the pool of fear into his heart strings.

"Riku!"

Riku felt arms go around his waist, spiky hair touching his arms. He smiled. Sora was back to normal already. "Sora?" he asked. "It's ten o'clock at night. Why are you here?"

Sora put his head underneath Riku's arm, his head popping back out next to his stomach. He twisted his neck around to look up at Riku, grinning. "Well... I tried to go to sleep, honestly. But..." a guilty and upset look appeared on his face, and Riku's fear melted into something acidy and uncomfortable. "Oh, Riku!" Sora cried, nuzzling his head into the silverette's stomach. "I'm so sorry for being mean today!"

Riku chuckled, his fingers sliding through silky hair. "You are so weird, Sora."

The said boy grinned, before pouting. His eyes went wide, and his bottom lip trembled. "So you're not mad?"

Riku's eyes widened. He swallowed all the indecent thoughts coming to mind, and focused on how adorable Sora looked in those few moments. Then he smiled. "No. I'm not."

Then they stood, Sora behind Riku, secretly feeling proud that he was the one embracing Riku, and Riku feeling safe and content – until they realised it had been hours and they had school in the morning.


	7. Jealousy and Math Homework

Geez, I hope you guys still read this. I'm seriously sorry for the long wait. Gosh, things have been sooo busy lately! Ugh. Psychology homework got the best of me :/ Hehe anyways, I hope you guys like this one. I tried to get them a little more... Intimate in this chapter. Yes, yes, I know, I know, I should make this a lemon, but I'm just not that kind of person, I guess.

I don't own Kingdom Hearts/the Kingdom Hearts characters or any random little references I make to it along the way :D Thanks, peace out.

* * *

Sora's eyebrow twitched. There was the slight possibility that Riku was slightly over-protective. Olette had ended up needing to go to Sora's place for the study date... No, session... because her parents needed the house to host a work party.

Riku, of course, found out and invited himself over. Sora refused that the older boy could stay the night, because he just felt weird about them sharing a room, let alone the only bed that Sora owned. Plus, Riku was cunning and also very into Sora.

"C'mon, Sora, it's not like I'd do anything to you!" Riku had been trying relentlessly to get the brunette to give in. But Sora was surprisingly hard headed. He was also very, _very_ aware that he could mess with Riku's mind. So he looked at Riku with big eyes, hiding the rest of his face behind his hands.

"I just..." Sora's voice was high pitched, making him sound lonely, and he acted like he wasn't aware of this fact. "I don't want to do anything I might regret. It's not you I don't trust, Riku. It's me. I'm just..." And Sora needed not to go further, because Riku, at that point, already felt guilty enough.

* * *

"Ooh!" exclaimed Meiko. "Sora, you're finally inviting a girl over! What's she like? Is she-" She caught the look on Riku's face. "Sorry, Riku, dear, but a girl coming over _is_ special to a mother, no matter the relationships going on already."

Sora stuck his tongue out at Riku, and the older boy grimaced. Meiko had been one of the only people they had agreed on telling because, one, she wasn't a person to judge preferences like that and two, there was no way that she would betray Sora by telling Kairi or anyone else.

What surprised Sora what that it had been three weeks, and still no one had figured it out. Which gave Sora a sense of indirection and unease. He had the slightest feeling that all of them had known from the start, and were planning something.

Riku had turned up about ten minutes before, and it was then that the bell rang. Both Sora and Meiko jumped, and Riku sighed, walking over to the door. Sora knew that if his boyfriend answered the door there would be trouble, so he raced to get there first.

Riku, expecting something like that, reached his arm out and grabbed Sora around the waist. Sora yelped, stretching his arm out and grabbing the handle with the tip of his fingers. "Riku!" he yelled. "Stop it!"

Riku just laughed. He bent over, bringing Sora down with him. This made Sora's wrist bend, and the door swung open to reveal Olette. She took in the current scene and her eyes widened. "Um... hi, Sora?"

Sora laughed, extremely embarrassed. "Riku, cut it out," he said, feeling the older boy's arms go limp. He unwrapped himself and stood up straight. "Hey, Olette. Sorry about the house. It's kinda... yeah."

Olette looked around in amazement. "Are you serious?" she exclaimed. "It's _huge_!"

Sora laughed, forgetting completely about Riku. "My mother, ah, wants to meet you. She's kinda excited."

"Is she in yet?" Meiko asked, stepping out of the kitchen. Her black fringe was curled and styled away from her face, and she was wearing a pale yellow sundress. Olette gasped.

"Wow! You're beautiful!"

Meiko blushed, looking away. "Sora, you have made a lovely friend."

Olette blushed, too. "Oh, it's nothing really. I was just curious to see what life style he was living in. He is definitely lucky to have a house like this with a mother like you."

Meiko had always been a sucker for sweet talk. "I am so glad Sora invited you over. Now, is there anything you're allergic to?"

Olette shook her head, and then Meiko bustled back into the kitchen, attaching herself to her apron, and then got cooking. Sora looked after, smiling. Olette laughed. "You're Mum is so great."

Sora looked around for Riku, but he wasn't there. He looked at the door. It was still closed, and Sora would have heard it if Riku had left the house. He looked over at Olette. "The lounge room's that way," he said, pointing to a doorway parallel to him. "Just to through there and get all your stuff ready. I'll be down in a few minutes."

Sora was halfway up the stairs, when a tall figure appeared in the doorway of his room. The figure was glaring at Sora, but not very convincingly, and Sora laughed. "You need to chill. C'mon, it's not like I'd ever study without you!"

A look of shock crossed Riku's face, before he blocked it off, and something clicked in Sora's brain. _Oh, so _that's _why he got like that. _Sora giggled. _He was jealous!_

Sora laughed a little harder, until he was actually doubled over the railing, clutching his stomach. His stomach muscles were tight at that point, but he couldn't stop laughing. "R-Riku..." he spluttered. "Y-you..."

The silver haired boy smiled, and then chuckled quietly. Sora looked at him, and immediately stopped laughing. He felt his face go slack. Did someone so beautiful really love Sora? As much as Sora loved him? Really, and truly?

Sora walked up the rest of the stairs. "C'mon," he prompted Riku, taking the older boy's hand. Every single thing Sora felt leaked out in that one word and it felt as if half his soul had escaped him. A dark hole had been swallowed up, and he was free from something he didn't even know had captured him.

He pulled Riku down the stairs, and just as he went to walk into the lounge room, Riku pulled him back with a swift tug. Sora was – softly – thrown against the wall, and soft lips touched his almost straight away. It was a chaste kiss, simply Riku teasing, and Sora blushed. "R-R..."

Riku grinned. "Yeah, I know."

The rest of the sentence went unsaid. _Yeah, I know, because I love you too._

* * *

"So... this one here is meant to equal up to that?" Olette asked, and it was obvious to Riku that she was overjoyed to be able to study with Sora.

Sora nodded. "Yeah, because if you read what's in those brackets, you can easily multiply that."

Olette's eyes lightened up. "Oh, Sora, you're a genius!"

Sora stretched a hand behind his head, cupping his neck. "Not really. I learnt it all of Riku."

Olette turned to Riku, who was sitting on the couch, pretending to read some manga. But even though it had been in his face for the last half hour, he had no idea even of what the main character's name was. He had been too busy watching Olette and being frustrated that he couldn't do anything to stop her, because that would give them away.

Not that Riku actually cared if anyone found out. In fact, he would love nothing more than to grab Sora in his arms to kiss him roughly, just to flaunt it to Olette that her simple attraction was nothing against the way Riku felt for Sora.

"Well then," she said, smiling kindly. "I guess I should thank you. Hopefully I won't fail on my Math test now. Ugh," she said. "I'm hopeless at Math. You are _so_ lucky to have your brain."

Riku decided to play nice. He didn't want Sora to be mad, which he would be if the silverette wasn't nice enough. So he laughed – and, to even his surprise, it sounded genuine. "Sora tells me that all the time. No problem, though. Just simply sharing my common knowledge to grateful classmates."

Olette grinned, turning back to her work. Riku smirked at her back. He obviously had her fooled. But Sora was glaring at him suspiciously. Riku gave flipped him a peace sign, before going back to 'reading' his _fascinating_ manga.

It turned out her name was Azumi. The main character of the manga Riku had actually read quite a bit of. It was a romance between two people – a girl and a guy, to Riku's distaste – and once he got past the mushiness of it all, it was somewhat entertaining.

One thing he noticed, though, was that the romance scenes involved the girl being swept of her feet. Why didn't the guy get his time to blush and wonder how much his girlfriend loved him back? Although... these worried were probably just because he was gay.

Riku hid a wince. Gay.

That was a bad word for Riku. He was very sensitive on that subject. It was more like he was just into Sora. No one else. No guy would ever get close. Also, he wasn't disgusted by the thought of going out with a girl – it was just that she wasn't _Sora_.

Peeping over the top of the manga, Riku found himself smiling. Olette wasn't a flirt, that was for sure. Although it was extremely obvious she liked Sora, she didn't act upon it. She wasn't taking advantage of his cluelessness, if fact, she was probably relieved he was like that.

Then he realised he was feeling a fondness of sorts for the poor girl, and he pulled his smile away. Just because he could relate to that Olette chick...

Ba-boom. Ba-boom. Riku looked down at his chest. It was twitching, and the rhythm of the beat was jumping out of place, like a broken record spinning on the floor.

He knew what it was like to love Sora with all his heart...

Ba-boom. Ba-boom.

But to be hesitant about Sora loving him in return...

Ba-boom. Ba-boom.

Riku took a deep breath. Nausea swirled in his throat, dragging a knife down his body until it reached his lower stomach. He stood up abruptly. "I'll be back soon."

He felt Sora's worried gaze on his back, and he knew it was because of the lack of emotion in his voice. He held a hand out behind him, bringing another up to his forehead. His head was now throbbing in the beats that his heart was not. Was this a heart attack? No, Riku had heard that you didn't get nausea when it the midst of an attack.

Sora seemed to get the message, because, behind the dull ringing in the back of his head, Riku heard Sora say with an obvious fake edge to his brightness, "So, have you figured that part out yet? I can't get it."

Riku felt a surge of pride and love go out to Sora, _his_ Sora, but then he felt worse, and he bolted to the bathroom. Leaning over the toilet, on his knees, he felt kind of like the pregnant teenagers on those movies Kairi seemed to love so much. He closed his eyes tightly, and pressed the thought into his head that the smell was not there, and he was not vomiting up his last three meals.

But, his head being full already of thudding, his distraction didn't work very well, and he found himself vomiting up even more, simply because of the smell. He tried to distract himself, thinking back to all the medical training he had received in the past. He winced. He didn't have much to go with.

Although, it was possible he was wincing at the dry, vulgar texture building up in his throat. He tried to swallow some moisture onto it, but that just made him vomit even more. Distracting. Distracting...

_Maybe it's a stress thing. People tend to feel sick in the stomach, faint in the head, and they hear a ringing in the back of their brain. Sometimes it can even cause stomach upsets, and they can vomit. But that depends on the extent of the persons' blood pressure and stress levels._

No way. Riku wasn't stressed. He was just... probably a little tired form sketching so late last night, right?

But the pain in Riku's heart had nothing to do with nausea. It didn't really have anything to do with stress, either. Even though, somehow, it was the creator of the stress. It didn't mean anything, though.

Sora did. Sora always meant something. He always had. He always would.

"Riku! You're throwing up? Oh my God!"

Riku wanted to tell Sora to go away, but he couldn't speak. He couldn't move. All he could do was heave dry sobs into a white porcelain bowl. Sora's arms went around Riku's shoulders, and the silverette felt waves of love from the younger boy wrap around his heart, soothing it, and his head started to hurt a little less.

Sora whispered in his ear. "It's okay, Riku. You're not alone. I'm here. Do you what caused this?" It was just those sentences over and over again. But Riku liked that. Sora cared for him. Soon, Riku had stopped vomiting, and had taken to staring at the swirling mess that had been inside his body only moment ago.

The smell seemed to have faded, but, surely, it was still there. Sora was still comforting Riku, and it was actually working. "Are you alright?" asked the brunette, and all the thoughts of Sora in a nurses or house-wife uniforms from previous nights come flooding back to Riku, and he found himself exhausted.

He slumped his shoulders down, before realising that his head was about to go head first into-

"Don't even think about it," said Sora, pulling the silverette back up. "That's just gross." He turned the silverette towards him, and even though he could feel vomit all over his face, Sora didn't flinch, or even move away. He just smiled, reaching behind him to grab a flannel.

He got up onto his knees and turned on the hot tap. After thirty seconds or so, he quickly scooped up some water into the flannel, before squeezing it and turning the tap off. Then he turned his attention back to Riku.

He dabbed the older boy's face lightly with the flannel, not seeming to mind the sight or the smell. He was smiling a normal smile, one that told Riku he was blissfully unaware of how much the silverette felt, just from the simple task he was doing of caring for the older boy.

He hummed quietly under his breath, just smiling. Riku found himself in a bliss, peaceful state.

_I don't think I've ever been this calm before. It's like there is no emotion anywhere, because everything is already filled up with all emotions possible. I love this boy so much._

He felt his eyelids drooping, and Sora laughed goldenly. "Stay awake for another two seconds. I'll help you up the stairs."

And so Riku, supported by Sora, compelled not only his eyelids but his whole body to move according the arrangement layout of the house. "God, Sora," brawled out Riku. "Why did you get a house with stairs?"

Sora chuckled. "Quit complaining and lift your left leg up."

The last Riku remembered before closing his eyes were soft hands sliding off Riku's fevered skin, the electricity decreasing as they lost contact, Sora's unfamiliar lips touching his, and a soft voice saying...

"If you don't wake up soon, I will allow Axel to maul you."

* * *

In Riku's dreams, things didn't progress very quickly. They tended to be in frames, just picture after picture. And they were all timed – 26 seconds each, and then the next picture would appear.

Because of this, Riku knew he never fully slept, and he used this time to think. As he watched pictures of Sora and Riku, posed as a 1930's couple, he saw that even though Sora was the female in all of the pictures, Riku still liked that lingering feeling of being taken care of.

He wasn't the kind of person who would let people know if he was in pain. He would shrug it off, telling the _other_ person to get over it, not himself. So that was why he wondered so often why if it was _Sora_ caring for him, that his heart would swell painfully and he wouldn't speak, because who knew what would come pouring out of this trembling lips.

* * *

"Will he be okay?" Riku registered that as Olette's voice, and realised he was becoming more awake. He made sure to not squeeze his eyes shut, but let them flutter for a bit. His mouth was open, slightly, so he closed it, licking his lips. They were the things people did in their sleep.

He felt a hand go to his forehead, and it had to be Sora's. No one else had hands like Sora's. "Yeah," the brunette said. "I hope so."

"I-I... I still like you, ya know. Even if you like that other girl. Whatever her name was." It took Riku everything he had not to sit up screaming at that one sentence. What the hell was that supposed to mean? _Had_ she taken advantage of Sora? Did she kiss him? Did he see anything that might offend him?

"Stop freaking out, Riku. She's gone." Sora's beautiful voice.

Riku grimaced. "Damn you," he said, sitting up. "What gave me away?"

Sora laughed, and Riku found himself leaning in closer to the brunette. "Just the fact that I've known you since I was born. Don't worry, I am nearly one hundred percent sure that she didn't realise."

Riku felt sleepy again, and he reached his arms out to Sora. "I feel tired," he mumbled, wrapping his arms around the younger boy's neck. Sora laughed and patted his back. Then he pulled Riku back, and gave him a quick kiss on the lips. He laid him down again, and sat on the edge of the bed, looking down at him.

"Forget what I said about Axel mauling you," Sora compromised. "You look green. You should sleep."

Riku felt a need to be with Sora, without the 1930's flapper dresses, and bow ties. "No," he whined. "I wanna stay with you."

Sora chuckled. "No. You're sick." He reached a hand out again to feel Riku's temperature. "Wow," he mused. "You're boiling."

"That could be because you're sitting next to me, ya know."

Sora fought a blush, but it came anyway. "Sleep," he said. "Before I start fighting to _keep_ you awake."

Riku's eyes fluttered shut, the exhaustion taking over him again. "Yes, _Mom_."

Sora giggled, and that sound seemed to shift something inside of Riku, changing him for the better.

* * *

"Are you _sure_ you guys won't go out?" Kairi nagged, for the fifteenth time in that last five minutes.

Sora giggled, and, going along with him, Riku chuckled. Simply because he couldn't send the brunette a warning look – not with Axel staring him down, once again.

"What if we already are?" the brunette quipped, and Riku looked at him in surprise. Thankfully everyone took that as a 'what the hell do you mean by that?' and not 'are you seriously gonna tell them? Why?', which it actually was.

Kairi squealed. "Seriously? Like, fully, seriously?"

Sora laughed, winking at Kairi. "Nope, but you so wish."

Kairi pouted, and Riku saw Sora's eyes soften. He smirked. Sora knew how to do that face perfectly, but he was so naive that he, in return, fell for it.

Riku looked up to see Olette take a seat next to Sora. She looked at Sora, blushing. He blushed also, looking down at his knees. Axel laughed loudly, before practically calling out. "Oh, and what's going on here?"

Olette looked up, her eyes wide. "It's nothing! Just..." then she started laughing awkwardly, and Sora joined in, before Riku joined in, simply because he had been there on the weekend, and it was hilarious to think of Sora loving anyone but him.

Roxas, Kairi and Axel all exchanged looks, before going back to staring at the three, who were in actual hysterics by then, completely bewildered.

* * *

Around ten minutes before school finished that day, Sora looked over at Riku. He looked bored. Not just because of his non-emotion showing habit, but as in, he was truly bored. Not that Sora could blame him. Riku had only chosen cooking because Sora had.

Sora grinned. "C'mon, Riku! Cheer up! We're cooking lavender choc tart!"

Riku snorted. "No, you're cooking lavender choc tart. I'm just admiring how great your ass looks while you're doing it."

Sora's face went a shade that Riku couldn't really describe. It was sort of red, purple, blue and green. He looked around, his eyes wide. When he was sure no one had heard, he looked back at the silverette. "Do you mind? Seriously?"

"No, not really." Riku shrugged. "I've been doing it since the start of the year."

Sora took a deep breath, looking down at the decorations for his tart. He picked up a chocolate covered raspberry and quickly popped it into his mouth. He chewed, smiling satisfactory, the juices flooding his senses. "Yum..." he gurgled, closing his eyes. Then he opened them, and got to work adding the finishing touches to his tart.

Riku was being strangely quiet, so Sora turned his head to look at him. His boyfriend was gripping the table, staring intently at Sora. Sora blushed, looking away. "What up with you?" he muttered, dabbing a napkin on a bit of cream that was trickling down the side of his dessert.

"After school," Riku managed to grit out. "We are spending some, um, alone time together."

Sora nodded happily, clueless. "Okay."

The bell went, and the brunette found himself being dragged out of the classroom, with only just enough time to place the tart in the fridge, and scoop up his bag.

Once they were around the back of the school, Sora winced. Riku had slammed him again the wall. The brunette looked up at the half-crazed Riku, and wondered what had gotten into him. Then he remembered where he had seen that look before. He had been reading a manga, and that was the look that main protagonist had worn on his face just before...

Sora blushed. Would Riku really do anything like that when they were at school?

Apparently, he would. He wrapped an arm around Sora's waist, pulling him forward. His mouth was so urgent on Sora's, that the brunette didn't have time to think about any consequences. All he could think of was the tongue fumbling around inside of his mouth, and how warm it was, compared to the soft fabric of the older boy's t-shirt.

"No way..." said a voice. "You guys really _are_ going out?"


	8. Moving On Part 1

Okay, okay, I know what you're thinking... 'why such a short chapter, when you haven't posted in months'?'

Well... I got nothing. No excuse, except for the fact that I'm kinda in a writer's rut right now :/ But keep in mind it says **Part 1**. Part 2 is still to come :) And also... Is anyone actaully reading this anymore? lol

And I don't own Kingdom Hearts or blah, blah, blah ;P

* * *

Kairi giggled. "Oh my God, you really are! That's so hot!"

Riku felt a shudder go through him. He was angry. Not only angry – he was pissed off. He took a deep breath, not wanting to scare Sora. "Kairi," he said pleasantly through gritted teeth. "I am in the middle of devouring my boyfriend. Please leave, and we will discuss this later."

Sora, on the other hand, had frozen. His eyes moved to glance at Riku, and he almost – _almost_ – came back to Earth. Riku looked kind of... stray. His hair was mussed, his mouth was swollen, and his pupils were dilated to the point where Sora thought he may have actually lost it.

_Kairi... Kairi... Kairi..._

Sora had no idea what to do. He opened his mouth, proud that he could move it, but then closed it again. A small whimper escaped his mouth, and that brought him around. He realised the depth of the situation, and immediately blushed. So much blood rushed at one time that it all pooled in Sora's forehead, and he found himself with a pulsing headache.

He went to curl himself into Riku's stomach, before realising that the action would probably only increase the awkwardness and tensity of the situation. So instead he closed his eyes. He imagined he was sitting in front of a warm fire, smiling at Riku.

The Riku in his mind was happier, smiling back. His skin flicked with yellow and orange as the shadow of the light made its' way across the burning wood. His eyes seemed to be silver, and although they blinded Sora, he wanted to stare into them, too mesmerised to think.

Riku said something, but Sora was in such a state that he missed it. He missed Kairi's reply, too, but her voice shattered the image of Riku, replacing it with something distorted – reminding Sora of the time when he tripped and spilled his glass of water on the mirror, making his face seem whack.

He felt like crying. Not because everyone would soon know, not because Riku and Kairi were surely fighting, but because the happy Riku was gone. He knew that when he opened his eyes, he would either see a sadistic Riku, or an extremely angry Riku. But he didn't want to see either. He wanted to see the free-spirited Riku that was around in the lingering memories and dreams.

But Riku wouldn't be like that if Kairi or Axel or even Roxas knew. He would be angry and closed off, or very protective and jealous. Sora knew how much emotion Riku hid when Kairi or Axel teased him flirtatiously. And he also knew that Axel would step up his game if he found out.

He clinched his finger into fists. His knuckles already felt bruised. He could feel that thick layer of tar and anger grip all of his organs painfully tight. His eyes opened, and he wasn't in control of himself anymore. But he knew what he needed to say to get everyone out of this situation.

"We don't actually love each other, Kairi," said Sora in his harsh voice. He hoped that the other two could see the real him crying out to them in his cold eyes. Apparently, they couldn't. "He's just a good fuck, that's all."

Riku looked at him, in pain. Sora almost went back to normal. But not quite. He was still too annoyed and too embarrassed to care. And as Riku's pain got worse, so did Sora's mood. Kairi just bit her lip, looking back and forth between the two.

"Shit, guys, I'm sorry. I won't tell anyone, I swear."

Riku straightened up, and suddenly the emotion from his face was gone. Sora winced inside – two were going to play the game, then. "No," said the older boy. "Tell everyone. Tell them all that Sora was good for sex, but nothing else."

Sora scoffed, but said nothing else. The both glared at each other – the real Sora screaming out that he loved the silverette, and he never wanted to hurt him.

But Riku didn't seem to get the message. He only saw the mask, the thing Sora pretended to be. Sora, the true, trapped Sora, would give nothing to shatter his stupid pride and run into Riku's arms. _I love you_, he thought desperately to his boyfriend.

"I hate you," the brunette spat. "And you're worthless than me."

There was no shock in Riku's eyes – he felt the same. Instead he turned and walked away, hurting Sora even more.

_I love you_, he thought desperately to his ex-boyfriend.

* * *

No eating. No drinking. No smiling. No frowning. No crying. No laughing. No speaking. No nothing. Except sleep. Riku got plenty of that. Too much, in fact.

He had felt his heart shatter when Sora had said that. It had shattered into so many pieces – some flying so far away that he would probably never get them back. Some lodged so deep into other pieces that he wasn't going to risk both splinters just for the small chance of gaining one.

Riku was still in shock. He had thought – hoped – that it would be like last time, and Sora would come find him and apologise. It still wouldn't have been the same, Riku knew that much, but it would have helped possible a little bit.

But it had been almost a week, and Sora hadn't even called. Rike would sit next to his phone - not desperate or anything - just staring at it as if enough wishing would make it ring. It didn't ring. Not even once. Not even for a call from someone else. This made Riku upset. Upset and angry and hurt. What happened to Sora loving Riku? Where had that come from? Nowhere, it seemed.

Riku didn't even want to draw anymore. He looked away from his ceiling and down at his ankles. He had ripped one of his sketchbooks in half while he was in one of his anger fits. The only time Riku didn't feel dead was when he was angry - but that was draining enough as it was, and afterwards Riku felt even tired than before.

The silverette kept thinking back to when Sora and him had first got together. He had been so sure that Sora had loved him. But Sora couldn't act. Never. And even if he could, his guilt would have tripped him and he would have returned by now. So Riku just took it that Sora didn't want to come back.

His phone went off. Riku jumped. He was laying down, but somehow he jumped. He scrambled over to his phone. He was hopeful, _hoping_, but it was only Kairi. The silverette could imagine the look of annoyance on the girl's face if she found out how much disappointment Riku got from seeing her name on his screen. He clicked the green button, and suddenly there was a message telling Riku to come to Kairi's house ASAP, but to make sure he hid fully in a tree or something.

Intruiged, Riku sat up. He got a massive dizzy spell, but he knew that Kairi wouldn't disappoint him. She wouldn't just make him get out of bed and hide in a tree for nothing. And as Riku got dressed, fighiting nausea, he saw the silver circles swirl in front of his eyes. Riku stumbled for a bit, and landed on his bed, his pants half way up his legs. _I am, possibly, officially insane._

Now Riku, being a normal enough teenager, hated thinking that. That thought did not reasure him, it did not tell him everything was okay. It just built up on his list of reasons why Sora had never loved him. But he was sure Sora had been true! He had... He had...

Riku sat up. He didn't give a shit if he was insane. Being insane was bliss. He would have no idea what was going on, no emotions to starve off. He would be content in his own mind. No one would bother him, not even himself. He would feel no guilt or pain - just pure, sweet bliss and nothing else.

Standing back up he felt giddy. Yes, sure, he was losing it a bit, but that was nothing. Nothing compared to what he deserved. He wasn't worth Sora. Was he really worth anything anymore? The silverette did not know the answer, but maybe that was a good thing. He was already on the road to Paradise.

* * *

Now Riku knew why he had to hide. Sora was there. And he looked... emotionless.

"Now," said Kairi sternly. "Sit down, and you are going to tell me everything."

Sora sat on the floor obediently. "Everything...?"

Walking forward to tower over Sora, Kairi glared down at him. "Speak."

Riku wanted to call out to the red head to stop being so threatening to Sora, but realising that the brunette boy would probably not do the same for him, he contained himself. He just stared at his ex-boyfriend, cringing at how little expression there was. He wasn't even human anymore. He was just... a non-Sora. An anti-Sora. His eyes were dead. His lips looked pale. His cheeks were sharp, and then Riku figured out why everything seemed so distorted.

Sora looked older. His face was sharper, just everything about it - sharper. In a way, Sora reminded Riku of Leon, that guy that Riku worked with sometimes in Science. Leon always kept a straight face, had a level head and never thought outside the box. He spoke in a monotone and had probably never had a girlfriend in his life.

And Riku didn't want to imagine Sora like that.

Sora was supposed to be cheerful, happy, all prancing around and whatnot. Not depressed and crouching over himself on Kairi's carpet floor. Where did Riku's light go? Riku's way out of wherever he was when he was alone? There was nothing to save him anymore. Sora wasn't just dead - he was empty. At least Riku had emotions.

In a sick, twisted way, Riku was winning a game he hadn't even volunteered to play.

Riku moved the leaves that were tackling his eyelashes to the side, just in time to see Sora sigh silently. Here, Riku had a good look at both Kairi's worried face and Sora's lack of expression.

"Riku," said Sora simply. "He was my everything, ya know? He was always there for me when I was a kid and stuff, and then I found out that I... I..."

Sora had started to shake here, and even Kairi wasn't that tough as to force him when he was like this. "What did you find out, Sora?" she asked the shaking boy softly.

Sora made a noise that was not a squeak nor a choke, but somehow both. "I... I loved him!"

Riku's foot slipped, and Sora turned around, jumpnig at the sound of the leaves rustling. The sad boy stood up and walked over to the window slowly. "There's no wind outside," said Sora plainly, but Riku wasn't sure if he was speaking to Kairi or himself. "So why are leaves rustling?"

There was a spark of curiousity in Sora's eyes. It wasn't the bright, inquizitive curiousity that Riku had fallen in love with, but more dull, plain way of wanting to know more.

It felt as if Sora was looking straight at Riku. All of a sudden, Riku felt his face was wet. But what? Riku never cried! He was more the 'die on the inside' kinda guy. This was bad. Riku hated the feeling of his eyes leaking. They felt warm and puffy and uncomfortable. Without thinking, the emotional silverette jumped out of the tree, and landed with a thump on the ground.

Riku felt his ankle spasm, and then the pain kicked in. It wasn't that bad, just one large surge of pain, and then a dull thud. But Riku scraped himself off the ground and stumbled up the street.

The teen looked up and saw his reflection in the large window of a neighboring house. He was splattered with dirt, and red was running down his arms. _Oh_, thought Riku plainly. _I cut my shoulder open_.

He could see the wound, it was large and gaping open. There was a large stick - or was it a small branch? - peeking out of the hole, but Riku couldn't feel a thing. His hair was all mussed, and there was two clear lines on Riku's cheeks - the trails of tears that were flowing speedily down Riku's face.

He looked sort of...

Messed up.


	9. Moving On Part 2

So... This is just the first thing that comes to my head. And yes, I know that no one reads this anymore, but if you do, pleeease tell other peoples about it, coz feeling unloved is not cool :P Oh, and yeah... The start of this chapter may be strange, and I dunno if some people will like it. I just wanted to add something unusual to this story xD Haha

I don't own Kingdom Hearts, as we all know, or anything of the characters and whatnot.

Thanks! And remember to R&R coz you love me!

* * *

_When I was a kid, I used to try and go into this one side of the CoolThings store. It would sparkle and glare and hurt my eyes if I looked at it for too long, and that was only from a distance. I always wondered what it looked like up close. Was it sparklier, shiner, brighter? Would it make my head spin more, give me more of a thrill when I walked up and down the aisle?_

_But... I always got stopped by someone or something. An adult would push me to the side, telling me that I was a kid, and it 'ain't nothing I should concern myself with for the while' or I just wouldn't have the time. As I got older, to about elevenish, I came to know that part of the shop as the triple X section. Apparently it was full of 'adult' things._

_Whatever that meant._

_By that time, I had figured out, from all the talk filled with false bravdo that everyone knew wasn't really there, but never said anything about it, that anyone who somehow made their way into that section of CoolThings was concidered a God, a Legend of some sort._

_So, gathering a small crowd, leaving out Roxas, Riku and all the rest who would try to stop me or tell my mother, I stood up straight and marched right into CoolThings. Several adults passed me, and so I grabbed a random friend, which one I do not know, and we pretended to oogle over an action figure collectable that was on new release. "Cool!" I exclaimed. "I've been waiting for this to come out for ages!"_

_They were all fooled, those silly adults, and so the friend resumed his position at the front of the crowd, trying to hide the fact they were hunching over merchandise to see the poor Sora, the little Sora, the protected, cutesy 11 year old Sora go into the XXX part of the store._

_I looked towards the lights, flashing, and took a mesmerised step forward. I could now see the three X's flashing dimly from the ceiling, the chains the sign hung own from slightly rusted. So that was why they called it that. Stumbling my way through all the people, I made it into the aisle. There was no one else around, and so I hid behind a giant-_

_I looked in horror. It was a giant plushie toy of a naked woman. The sign on the box told me that if you squeezed her hand, she made various groaning noises. I looked around and saw all sorts of plastic shapes, different flavoured butters, and even some horrifying looking DVD's standing on a rackety stand in the corner._

_I bolted out of that aisle, as fast as I could, into the arms of someone taller than me. I knew they weren't an adult, but they had that same authority about them. I saw that silver strands before they tickled my nose, and gulped. I should have known - Riku would always find out._

_And that, right then, made me feel safe, protected, like no one else in the world could hurt m..._

The pencil snapped. Sora had been staring at that last sentence for well over five minutes. Just staring.

Kairi had told him - ordered him - to write down what he was feeling right then. But instead of feelings, he got stories. Memories. Well descripted memories, that really had nothing to do with anything. Hmm, maybe hanging with Olette had boosted his English skills. Or maybe his depressed state was just getting to him; his body needed some way to let it all out.

_"Was pretty scary in there, right?" _Riku had said to him not harshly, but not softly either. More like a maturnal scolding. The small Sora had nodded, while the older Sora got all teary.

_Scratch that_, Sora wrote. _Everything that Riku does, did, and will ever do will make me feel like that. I'm nothing without him really. I've always been with him, and he's always been with me, no matter how far apart we are. He's my everything, not my nothing. How could I have said that? "You're worthless than me," I had spoken. The words don't even make sense, that's how angry I was!_

_But I wasn't me... I was someone else. Why couldn't you guys see that? I was screaming to you from inside myself, but no one noticed... I thought you would notice..._

Sora couldn't write anymore. He didn't want the tears to overflow. So instead, he pulled out his cell phone and sent a text to Tidus.

_**Hey come pick me up im bored outa my mind kairis got me hostage lol :P**_

_**

* * *

**_

Kairi walked in the door, picked up the piece of paper, and tucked it under her arm. She didn't want to read it until she saw Riku, which would be _very_ soon, if she had anything to say about it.

Which, as usual, she did.

* * *

"...And so," said Tidus. "That's how I got her number."

Wakka chuckled. "You're kinda... cruel, ya? You and I both know you're not gonna call her back."

Sora grinned. His was exactly the distraction he needed. Tidus' pointless chitchat about all his little girly groupies that were lusting after him now. Sora swore that Tidus got a new fanclub every two to three weeks. "So, was she pretty?"

Tidus looked over at the brunette, his face going slack in a mocking expression. "Well DUH!" he said loudly, and Sora jumped. Then they all laughed.

Sora liked this feeling. He could make any mistakes that he wanted, say anything he wanted - because it was Tidus and Wakka and they make mistakes of their own all the time too. He lowered his blue hues to his feet and tried to magnify the feeling of fake happiness in his chest.

It was nice but uncomfortable, because, as said, it was fake. Sora wasn't happy. He was lost, dead. Upset. Sad. Angry. At himself, no one else. Only himself. He felt like he was on drugs in something - the high was amazing, but one he cleared his head a little, it started to hurt. His act was more to fool himself, no one else. But he wasn't fooled - not in the long run, anyway.

A small voice in his head told him that he should go see Roxas. It wasn't the harsh voice, the cruel mocking one; it was more of a kinder, more loving one. Sora trusted this voice, because he knew talking to Roxas would somehow fix everything. But that would come later, for now he would stick to the one thing he never failed at - goofing off. "So," he said, sounding thoughful but playfully accusing. "Why don't you ever call any of them back?"

Tidus scoffed. "Call 'em back? Why? Then I'd have to stick to one girl, and face it" - the blonde lifted his arm up and flexed his biceps arrogantly -" there's too much of me for just one girl. Poor woman, she'd be to overwhelmed."

"Well," jested Wakka. "I suppose it's good you've got muscles, ya? Makes up for your lacking down below."

It took Tidus a second to figure out what Wakka meant, but when he did, blonde to redhead staredown. Tidus looked jokingly pissed off, and Wakka looked extremely amused. He was smiling calmly, but Sora knew that if anyone said anything else, the said boy would snap.

Then Sora figured out what Wakka had meant. He burst out a laugh, just one short giggle. "Wakka," he said. "You're funny."

"Sora," said Tidus, mocking the said brunette. "You're slow. He said the joke, like, two minutes ago, and you just catch it now."

Sora punched the blonde weakly. "Shut up," he whined, dragging the words out like a small child. "Leave me alone!" he then cried out dramatically, before flinging his face into his arms and pretending to sob.

Tidus and Wakka laughed. "You're a bit strange, ya?"

Sora lifted his head up from his hands and grinned at the redhead. "Yup, sure am!"

This happiness, this distraction, wasn't fake. It helped him get his mind off things. Although he felt a stab of pain everytime he thought back to the fact that he was distracting himself. He wished he could just get on with his day, let loose, and not have to think about the fact that he was letting loose. It helped knowing that only two other people know he was upset, and that not everyone had found out they were dating before Riku and him had spilt up.

_I guess that's always a good thing_, thought the brunette as the three boys reached the edge of the hot sand where it connected the even hotter cement that was seeming to singe small holes in the soles of their feet. _No one knows that I am sad - so there is no pretenses for other people, only myself._

"Ouch," winced Wakka as he and Tidus tiptoed onto the white sand that seemed so inviting, yet so deadly hot. Sora thought he could almost see the steam rise from the thin grains, all bunched together to somehow make one large subtance of space and matter. "Sora, you comin', ya?"

Sora looked up from his feet to see his two friends looking expectantly at him. He knew that whether he stayed or not, Tidus would go grab his surfboard from the shack in the corner, or maybe a blitzball, and the two boys would race or battle until they were so winded and wet with massive stitches, that they collasped on the sand for half an hour, just like they usually did.

But Sora's heart felt so drowned in everything already, that he was scared of what he might try and do, faced with so much water at once. He could make his death look like an accident, a slip, a weak body against a rough sea. But no... Sora wasn't like that, he wouldn't give up. His feircely innocent determination was something Sora was proud of in himself, even if he was unable to feel pride or any other positive emotion at that moment of time.

No, he could only feel a need to go see Roxas. "Uh... Nah, I think I'm gonna head off. It's too hot, ya know?" Roxas.

Tidus turned and shuffled backwards, wincing again the burning of his feet. "But c'mon, look at the waves!" As the blonde pointed out towards the sea, Sora's head started to throb. Roxas.

Wakka nodded eagerly. "Don't they look temping, ya?" he asked Sora casually. "We haven't hung in ages. It'd be nice to hang around together again, ya." _Roxas!_

Sora shifted. "Uhm guys... I really have to go, feeling sort of sick." _This is taking too long. You have to see Roxas!_

The brunetter saw his friends open their mouths again, as to plead him to stay, but he was already off. He was running towards the car park before he had even turned around. He rolled his head around in time to dodge a thick wooden electricity pole, and that made even more of his breath leave his pounding chest. He was running, he just kept running and running.

"Sora!" he heard a voice call, though whom it belonged to he wasn't sure. "What the hell?"

_Tidus_, Sora guessed as he sped around the corner and up the road. He didn't think he had ever ran this fast in his entire life. The pressure of the wind was so heavy that his eyes were watering and his lids kept flapping shut. His tongue was vibrating, making a repeated _bzz-bzz-bzz_ sounds against his lips with every speedy thud his thick heels made against the ground.

Sora could feel the need for Roxas strengthening the closer he got, no lessening as he expected it would. The world around him swirled and suffocated in Sora's blurred dash past it all. The wind seemed to be a sort of colour, a light green or something, as the sea aroma tugged and pulled on the colours dying and fading in and out of it.

Suddenly he could see the sign. The sign that told him he was on the corner of Roxas and Axel's street. As he struggled to turn his neck against the force of the wind whipping towards him, he saw the familiar purple peeling off the red brick box they called a house - a fading result from Axel's last birthday, the paint war that no one could be bothered cleaning off.

He slowed down, suddenly feeling worn out and tired. While running he had felt exhilerated and high, but now he just felt exhausted. He stumbled and panted his way up the rest of the street, up the driveway and then up the half cement, half green and blue and yellow paint, stairs and heaved against the door. "Guys," he rasped softly, banging a weak fist against the red door, "Let me in."

Just as the roughed brunette thought no one was going to asnwer, he felt his leaning space jerk backwards, and suddenly he was on the prickley carpet ground. He cried out in pain as his head hit the ground, his shins getting scraped by the metal doorframe connecting the stairs and the house together with that little ridge that made the hallway higher than the miniscule veranda out the front.

"Sora?" questioned a high voice much like his own. "Is that you?"

All the brunetter could muster was a weak nod and a groan of intense pain. He tried to roll over, feeling all the sweat pool in between the middle of his back and his green t-shirt, but all his muscles seemed to pull the other way, and he cried out in even more pain than before. "Ouch, Roxas, help me!"

Roxas didn't know what was going on with his little brother, but it looked bad, and Sora was crying. "Ah, Axel?" he called out. "I need some help!"

The groggy redhead stepped into the hallway, sleepy and groaning. Then he caught sight of Sora and jumped. "The fuck?" he exclaimed. "What's with this kid?"

Sora giggled tiredly, painfully, and then whimpered. "You... Shut.. Up..."

Axel chuckled. "Toughen up kid," he said, but he bent down and slipped his arms under the crook of his knees and his neck, picking him up into a princess cradle, regardless. "Now," he said to the brunette boy who was paling even further. "Let's get you onto the the couch."

And onto the couch he went. Sora could feel his hair, that was maybe a little bit too long, fan out behind him and tip off the arm of the couch, dangling into the nothingness of the living room air. He groaned - his head felt horrible; his neck being stretched out by the arm of the chair. Inwardly, Sora was groaning for another reason. He wanted to tell Roxas everything now, but he just couldn't. He couldn't speak without causing more pain and Axel was there.

"I..." he gurgled. "I'll tell you later..." And then he closed his eyes, allowing sleep to fill him completely. It was a dead, uncomfortable sort of sleep; his mind as exhausted as his body, but still sleep none-the-less.


	10. Forgive and 'Forget'

Heyyyyyyyyy! How long did this take? Remember me still? :P

Sorry! I have sooo much homework, which reminds me, I have to send my English work to my teacher... Annnyways, yeahs, I kinda uhms.. Wrote this after a long amount of time, and you may think it's crap, but here it is. Also... I have no idea how this story is going to end, or when it will end, but I shall figure it out!

Also, reviews make me happy :) I am sick, and this whole review thingy makes me all happy (yeah that's right, all you non-reviewers, feel bad :P) Talking about reviews... I got my little 'cat-like' quote off of Keuraki-SoraXRiku, so yeahs... I tell you, that woman is a genius. Kinda wish she'd update her stories, though... I WANT THE NEXT CHAPTER OF CAN'T RUN AWAY FROM THE HEART! ... And stuff.

So.. Yeah. Read, enjoy (hopefully) and review! I'd say enjoying it would be the most important thing, but then you wouldn't review so.. Nerr :P

Peace!

* * *

"You feeling any better?" was what both Riku and Sora woke up to. Not both at the same times, of course, as that would be too cliché for this drama. Separately, with Riku waking about an hour - hour and a half before his ex-boyfriend.

Kairi was leaning over him, her seemingly pink hair dazzling Riku into an even sleepier state, somehow. The curtains were open (why? _W__hy_ were the curtains open? They should _not_ have been open!) and that caused everything about Kairi to glow a little more brighten than usual. But there was something in her eyes, a brightness, a shine, that had nothing to do with the glaring light intruding into the only space that Riku could really call his own.

Well.. He could call it his own when Kairi wasn't around, snooping, opening curtains that were _clearly_ shut before she walked in.

"What do you want?" he half muttered, half moaned as he yawned. Riku awkwardly sat up a little bit, leaning all of his torso's weight on his right elbow, as he lifted his other arm up to block the bright, absorbing rays of deathly sun from searing his eyes in half.

Kairi giggled. "Riku, it's nearly two in the afternoon! Get your ass out of bed! We have a story to read."

Uh-oh. Riku didn't like the way his friend had said that. So... cat-like. Kairi was so catty sometimes. He could almost imagine her with twitching whiskers, cunning purples eyes and a flicky tail, prancing around like the domestic devil she was.

"Close the fucking curtains, Kairi."

The 'catty' girl gasped. "How rude!" she exclaimed teasingly, putting her knees on the edge of the bed, almost slipping, and leaning over the tired silverette to pull one curtain to the middle, using only one hand. She could feel her knees slipping off the rumpled bed, her kneecaps going _clack_ as they stretched a bit too far, and suddenly she was on her knees on the ground. "Geez, Riku," she complained, blowing upwards to make her fringe move. She failed, however, only making the piece of hair rise upwards, before falling back down, even more into her eyes. "You're so freakin' _wide_."

Riku sat up, leaning his stomach all the way in, stretching an arm out to pull the other side of the curtain shut. _Ahh.._ said his mind contently. _Now I can see again_. "Thanks," he muttered, his quiet voice thick with sarcasm, at the same time the fallen girl stood back up again, flopping her fingers across her face - absolutely _not_ gracefully - to tuck her hair behind her ear.

"No problem," she said cheerily, returning back to her previous mood. "Now," she continued, swatting the still-tired teen with the notebook she was holding, "Get up! _Up!_" she repeated when Riku didn't show any signs of moving.

The said boy groaned, _why me?_ he thought as he pulled the covers off his leg slowly. He lifted one leg out of bed, slowly, but not carefully, and plopped it onto the grimy clothes and books covered floor. "Why the - Kairi, get out of my way - sudden urgency?"

Kairi giggled at the way Riku had just molded two differen sentences, one a question, the other a command, into one so fluently. Riku was just smooth like that. Smooth and calm and collected. Which made Kairi wonder why Sora hated Riku. Or, at least... Didn't like Riku like that.

But... After this morning, Kairi didn't know what to think. _"I... I loved him!" _Sora had said. With such emotion, such a passion. There had been life in Sora's eyes for the first time in a week. Emotion. But which emotion Kairi could not figure out. And if she couldn't figure it out, then it was a mystery worth noting on. He loved Riku? As in, he had loved him, but not any more, or he loved him, and loved him still.

Then Kairi noticed the red dots splattered on the right top half of Riku's white t-shirt, around his shoulder blade area. Kairi gasped. Sora's emotions could wait. They were, hopefully, all written in the small book Kairi threw to the ground in worry, as she hugged the silverette, making sure to wrap her arms around his eblows and middle back area, nowhere higher than that. "Riku!" she cried. "What happened to your shoulder?"

Riku turned around, staring at her, dazed. "Huh?" The silverette was obviously not awake yet. "Oh, that. Right." He flushed, and Kairi was shocked. Whatever had happened between Riku and Sora had obviously been very meaningful to the two boys, because they had both changed so much.

"Well?" Kairi prompted, letting go of the older boy and pulling back to look at him. "What happened?"

Riku looked down at his bare thighs, his legs crossed. "I... A stick went through it this morning. But I taped one of those giant bandaids to it and now it hardly even hurts."

Kairi grimaced. "We need to change that gauze of yours." Her top lip crinkled at the thought of what had most likely grown all over not only the bandage, but Riku's back, too. Oh well, that's what Kairi got for mothering the two boys so much. "Up," she commanded firmly, patting Riku's even firmer arm mscles, standing up from the bed."

Riku sighed. "Let's get this whole 'gauze' or whatever done over with, then." The he chuckled, for some unknown reason, and Kairi looked at him worriedly as they both walked out of the room and into the bathroom. _Maybe he has truly lost it...?_

Riku was sliding his grimy white t-shirt over his head when Kairi entered. She tried, honestly tried, to keep her eyes from the strained stomach muscles Riku has gained over the years, but her eyes kept sliding back to the pale skin, strong and solid over his abs. Riku was quite attractive, Kairi realised. Surely she had thought he was cute before, but it seemed like she was looking at him for the first time, in this dimly lit bathroom with self-thickening grime flowing the walls. It wasn't love, nowhere near, but more a temporary attraction.

The redhead girl shivered. She was alone with this beautiful creature. But she couldn't do anything - _wouldn't_ do anything - for Sora's sake, as well as her own. She would just hide how she was feeling, knowing full well how stupid she would feel after this was all over. "

"Okay," She said, surprised how calm she felt, compared to how the fluttering attraction was boiling gracefully in her stomach. "Turn around, lemme look."

Riku turned, hunching. He knew this was going to hurt. Kairi hunched over, too. She could see the green slick stuck to his skin, around the edges of the gauze. "The fuck, Riku!" she cried out. She was sort of glad that Riku's parents weren't home at that time, or else it would have been awkward to explain. "You didn't put any cream or anything on it, did you?"

Riku shifted. "Was I supposed to?"

Kairi sighed. "You idiot." Then she chuckled lightly, for no reason, and soon Riku joined in. The whole atmosphere was tense as all hell, but Kairi found she could relax a little bit. She stepped forward, scared that whatever was forming on Riku's back was contagious.

"Just hurry and take care of it," Riku gritted out, his voice shaking. He seemed to be mulling over some inner-worry, too. So Kairi was reached out, ignoring the fact her fingernails were newly painted, and ripped the gauze off. Riku cried out in pain, and Kairi screamed.

"What?" asked Riku, panicking. (A/N - this next bit's kinda.. Dramatic. And yes, I know.. This would never happen after like, five hours, but let me have some fun, okay? xD)

But Kairi was frozen. Horrified. "It... It..." _It looks almost alive! _she thought frantically. Yellow liquid, thick as blood, was oozing out of a large gaping hole in the teenage boys shoulder. The skin was all crusty and rainbow - dried tissue of red, purple, yellow and green gleaming evilly at Kairi. The blood, mixed with the - was that puss? - was sort of... bubbling, and Kairi felt her stomach heave, her throat go dry. "It's fucking horrible!"

Riku froze. "Well..." his voice was quiet, timid, and that made Kairi snap out of it.

_Riku needs me_, Kairi reminded herself. _So I have to suck it up_ - she ignored the mental imagine that came with the phrase - _and get over it. _But she still grimaced as she stepped even closer. It was fucking disgusting, and she had to deal with it. Close up. Hell, she could _smell _it. Swallowing down the sickening acid building up in her throat, she managed to speak. "I.. I can still see where the stick went - there are still some splinters. Hold on, where are the-?"

RIku flipped his arm back, and suddenly there were a pair of glistening tweezers in her face. She looked at the boy's silver hair, looking darker in the dimer lighting of Riku's old bathroom_. How did he know_? Then she stopped wondering. Some mysteries were to wonder about, but Riku was not one of them. It was part of his charm. Kairi's stomach flipped over. There wasn't much charm - or attraction - anymore, after seeing what Riku had done to his body.

Plucking the tweezers from Riku's fingertips, she noticed his hands were shaking. "Calm down," she said. "It'll only hurt a little bit."

And so she plucked tiny pieces of wood from Riku's infected wound, both of them well aware that the other was wincing just as badly as them. Kairi managed to stab Riku twice, causing the layers of dead skin to pop and ooze purple goo down Riku's back, barely missing Kairi's somehow still almost-perfectly clean fingers.

Then she splashed some warm water on it, scrubbed it - gently, of course - with a face washer and then got out a fresh gauze. Nobody talked, but it was obvious what the two were thinking to each other.

And so, after half an hour of that, and after Riku had showered, The two settled down on the couch to read what Sora had written. Riku had wanted to read it first, but Kairi snatched it off him, saying proudly that it was her who had made Sora write it, and so she would read it first. She had a suspicion that Sora had only maybe written one sentence about how much he disliked Kairi for making him do this, but then again, her will to believe Sora had done her justice was strong enough to make anything happen, even form words onto a piece of shrivelling lined paper.

And her will, or maybe it was Sora's will, did not disappoint.

* * *

"How strange..."

"What is?" Riku jumped up from the couch, tugged the book from a shocked Kairi's hands. He had used her moment of distraction to get it back. Then he shoved the book in his face. He could only see a few words, which you would figure, his eyes being about a millimetre away from the page.

_Naked woman _and _XXX_ catch his eyes before anything else. "What the fuck does this kid feel about me?" he wondered out loud, sounding horrified.

Kairi giggled. "Come sit back down and read it properly."

And so Riku did just that. And afterwards, after he had read it, he felt tears spring to his eyes, for the second time today. _Ugh_, he thought. _This kid is _not_ good for me. But also... He's the best thing I've ever had, and the best thing I could ever get._

Then he felt a strong surge of guilt. How hadn't he noticed Sora like that? Of course it was strange, because he was so harsh and unrewarding. Of course Sora loved him. Well... It seemed that way anyway, from these words. Maybe Sora really did love him. Then...

Riku grinned. Then that would be perfect.

* * *

"You feeling any better?"

Sora groaned. He was just tired, there was no pain. "What'dya mean, there was no pain to begin with." Rubbing the sleep from the corner of his wide blue eyes, he opened them properly, and saw Red and black sploges. "Wait... Axel? Huh?"

Axel laughed. "You don't remember anything, do you?"

Sora shook his head. "Nope. Why.. Did I do something stupid?"

Axel laughed even harder, and Sora got even more confused. It was around that time that Roxas came in, Diet Coke in hand, gay magazine in the other. Seeing Sora awake, he quickly shoved the mag behind his back, looking panicky.

Axel, who had stopped laughing by then, chuckled sharply again. "He doesn't remember a thing," he told the blonde, amused.

Roxas, though, looked worried. Sora wondered why. What had he missed out on? All he knew was that he wanted Riku right now- where was his boyfriend when he needed him?

"Hey, Sora," said Roxas casually, althogugh Axel could see how non-casual the younger boy actually was. "What's the last thing you remember?"

Sora furrowed his eyebrows, looking down. "The, uhm... Hmm.. The last thing.." He swung his feet back anf forth, short but soft movements - movements on the old Sora. "I think it was kis-" Sora went red, and grabbed a plush cushion off the couch and slamming it into his face.

Axel laughed, and this time Roxas joined in. "You and Riku, eh?"

Sora looked back from the pillow with wide eyes. "You know about, uhm.. Us?"

Roxas smirked, and no matter how much of a bully the blonde boy was, this look was unusual for him, somehow. "You tend to uhm.. Talk in your sleep a little there, Sora."

And it was true. Sora had mumbled and muttered and twittered about the older boy for the last two hours. Poor Sora, both Roxas and his boyfriend knew almost all the juicy details by now.

This made Sora blush. "Do I really?"

There was a knock on the door. And with that sound, somehow the whole atmosphere changed. Many things, not only the atmosphere swap, but many other things happened in that moment too. Sora caught a glimpse on the past, remembered something, but he didn't know what. Roxas and Axel looked at each other, and shared one thought - _who this time_?

And.. On the other side of the door, waiting outside in the boiling hot sun.. Riku gulped. _What will happened next, I don't know, but then again, what the hell _do_ I know anymore?_

* * *

In every play there is an interval. Well actually, most of the time there is two. But anyways, there is an interval in this story. Just because it makes the story more interesting, and also because... Well, doesn't it shape a story up better - climaxing to the end result just that little bit more extremely - if the reader has to wait and get really pissed off before they can finish the chapter?

Or maybe that's just my sick sense of humour speaking.

So... Regardless of the reason, there is an interval. And yeah... This interval is it.

Over.

Bam.

Ka-pow.

You can continue reading now :P

* * *

Axel was the one to open the door. He was the one to look shocked and mutter under his breath about how coincedence and perfect timing just didn't seem all that real anymore. Riku was shocked, too - something seemed different. He knew Sora was here, but it felt different this time.

Almost like...

Walking around the corner and into the loungeroom, Riku's suspisions were confirmed. Sora was back to normal. In fact... Maybe a little too normal. But the teen boy was too relieved to notice that at that moment, he would realise that in a minute or two. He practically leaped across the room, pulling the stunned brunette off the couch and into his strong arms like a rag doll.

"I love you," said the older boy softly, lightly, so light that it fluttered out of the spikes in Sora's hair and out behind, escaping through the window. If this was a fantasy, then maybe those words would have sparkled and shimmered, like Kairi's hair in the dank bedroom, and blown over to someone else, helping them in life. But no, this is just fiction, and the words did nothing of the such, just flying out the window in a metophorical term.

Sora pulled back, confused. "I'd be sorta worried if you didn't, ya know." Then he blushed. "Oh, I.. Uh.. Love you too."

Now Riku was confused as well. Roxas had been confused from the start, and Axel was confused too, as much as he'd never admit it. So.. With everyone confused... The story needed to be sorted out.

And so.. Riku, Sora, Roxas and - Well, Axel sort of pissed off after that, because 'emotion' and 'talking it out' weren't his favourite words to put together - at down to explain it all.

"... And then yeah, I read what you wrote, cried a bit, and then got Kairi to drop me off here ASAP."

Sora shivered. "I don't remember any of that." He heard Roxas chuckle softly, nervously, and turned to him, along with Riku. "What's so funny?"

Roxas's gaze quivered to his thin legs. "It's not really funny, just.. Well... A few hours ago you kind of bombarded in here balling your eyes out, rasping for air and all that but then you fell over, wheezing - I think you mentioned running here all the way from the fucking beach - and then when you woke up you couldn't remember anything from like, the last week, and so we figured you'd hit your head pretty hard and forgotten it all."

Sora stared, shocked. "I thought that only happened in movies."

Riku laughed. "That is so Sora."

Roxas smiled. "Yep."

Axel called out," Rox, com'ere! I can't get this thing to work!"

Confused, Roxas stood up and walked out the door. "Where are you?" he called out. A quick shout told him the bathroom. When Roxas didn't return ten minutes later, Riku figured that the lucky blonde had gotten the thing Axel couldn't work to run _pretty_ smoothly. Grinning bitterly, he turned to Sora.

"So.. What now?"

Sora felt guilty. He had not only shattered Riku's heart, but then he had hit his head and forgotten about it. He could see it in Riku's eyes that he was forgiven, no doubts about it, but something had changed in Riku. Something that Sora yearned to fix, _needed_ to fix, before he could be whole again, too. So, putting on a smile that was only really a quarter fake against his pale and beautiful face, he answered, "Anywhere's fine." _... As long as I'm with you_.

They both caught the rest of the half-spoken sentence as they stood up and headed towards the door.


End file.
